Edit page | Page history | Printable version

poly

1. (Science: prefix) A combining form or prefix denoting many, multiplicity, as polygon, a figure of many angles; polyatomic, having many atoms; polychord, polyconic.

2. (Science: botany) A whitish woolly plant (Teucrium Polium) of the order Labiatae, found throughout the mediterranean region. The name, with sundry prefixes, is sometimes given to other related species of the same genus.

3. (Science: chemistry) A prefix meaning polymer of, as in polypeptide, polysaccharide, polynucleotide; often used with symbols, as in poly(A) for poly(adenylic acid), poly(lys) for poly(l-lysine).

Origin: G. Polys, much, many