Etymologically
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polymer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 03:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈpɒl.ɪ.mə/[1]
  • US: /ˈpɑ.lɪ.mɚ/, /ˈpɑ.lə.mɚ/[1]

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
  • 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