polymer

Etymology

The OED, which revised the entry in 2006, takes it as formed within English, from English poly- + -mer, after polymeric.^[2] Merriam-Webster also calls it a back-formation from polymeric, probably first formed in German,^[3] and Barnhart, Etymonline and the Oxford Dictionary of English take it from German Polymere.^[4][5][6] All refer it to Ancient Greek πολυμερής (polumerḗs, “having many parts”),^{[2][4][5][7][8]} formed from πολύς (polús, “many”) and μέρος (méros, “part, share”).^[5][7][4] Etymonline traces the two to Proto-Indo-European *pele- (“to fill”) and Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to get a share of something”).^[5][7] The adjective polymeric goes back to Berzelius, who introduced the German polymerisch in 1830 according to Barnhart, 1832 according to the OED.^[4][2] The OED also compares French polymère, a noun from 1876.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A compound whose formula is an exact multiple of another's, with the same elements in the same proportions: 1866, in H. E. Roscoe's Lessons in Elementary Chemistry.^[2][4][3] Etymonline dates the word to 1855,^[5] and Barnhart notes that it replaced the earlier polymeride (1857).^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first meaning was narrow: one of two compounds with the same elements in the same proportions but different molecular weights.^[2][8] The word later came to mean any substance built up largely or wholly of many similar units bonded together, especially the synthetic compounds that make plastics, resins and rubbers.^[8][2] As a mass noun for polymeric material it is recorded from 1946.^[2]

Timeline

• 1830 – Berzelius introduces the adjective polymeric in German.^[4]
• 1855 – first date in Etymonline.^[5]
• 1857 – the earlier synonym polymeride.^[4]
• 1866 – a compound whose formula is a multiple of another's.^[2][4][3]
• 1946 – as a mass noun, polymeric material.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A natural or synthetic compound of large molecules built up from many repeated simple units, such as starch or Perspex.^{[9][10][3][8]}
2. Material made of such compounds: The frame is moulded from a tough polymer.^[2]
3. (chemistry, originally) A compound whose formula is an exact multiple of that of another compound with the same elements in the same proportions.^[2][8]

Word family

• polymeric
• polymerism
• biopolymer
• copolymer
• superpolymer
• homopolymer
• photopolymer
• polymerase

Related words

• monomer
• isomer
• dimer
• oligomer
• polymerize
• polymerization

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin