polymorphic

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   having or occurring in several distinct forms

   The human race is both polymorphic and polytypic.

2. 2
   adj

   relating to the occurrence of more than one kind of individual (independent of sexual differences) in an interbreeding population

   A polymorphic species.

3. 3
   adj

   Relating to polymorphism (any sense), able to have several shapes or forms.

   I refer to those genera which have sometimes been called "protean" or "polymorphic," in which the species present an inordinate amount of variation; and hardly two naturalists can agree which forms to rank as species and which as varieties.

4. 4
   adj

   Having or relating to the ability to take multiple data types for a single parameter.

   Polymorphic redefinition in C++ is achieved by the use of virtual functions.

From poly- + -morphic.

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