Polymer

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈpÉ’l.ɨ.mÉ™/
• US IPA: /ˈpÉ‘.lɪ.mÉš/
• Hyphenation: poly + mer

Origin

From Ancient Greek πολύς (poly, "many") + μέρος (meros, "part"). Coined in 1833 by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, although his definition was quite different from ours.

Full definition of polymer

Noun

1. (organic chemistry) A long or larger molecule consisting of a chain or network of many repeating units, formed by chemically bonding together many identical or similar small molecules called monomers. A polymer is formed by polymerization, the joining of many monomer molecules.
2. A material consisting of such polymer molecules.
• 2013, Charles T. Ambrose, Alzheimer’s Disease, Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.

Derived terms

• biopolymer
• inorganic polymer
• oligopolymer
• polymeric
• polymerize