polynomial

Etymology

It is formed from English poly- + -nomial,^[2][3][4][5] after binomial,^[2][6][7][4] whose stem Etymonline calls irregularly reused here.^[8] The Oxford Dictionary of English names multinomial as the pattern instead,^[9] and the OED compares that word too.^[2] The prefix is from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “much, many”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In algebra, an expression made up of many terms: 1674 according to Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,^[4][3] the 1670s in Etymonline.^[8] The OED's first quotation is from a work by S. Jeake written before 1690 and published in 1696.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun first named any expression of many terms, the same as a multinomial; it was later narrowed to a sum of terms each made of a constant multiplied by one or more variables raised to a whole-number power.^[2][6] The adjective followed in 1704, in J. Harris's Lexicon Technicum.^[2][4][8] From 1885 the noun was also used in taxonomy for a Latin name of more than two terms, such as the names given to species before Linnaeus,^[2][8] and the adjective for such names from 1890, in the Century Dictionary.^[2] Collins also gives the adjective the general sense "having two or more names or terms".^[11]

Timeline

• 1674 – noun, in algebra, an expression of many terms.^[4][3] The OED's first record is from before 1690.^[2]
• 1704 – adjective, consisting of many terms.^[2][4][8]
• 1885 – noun, in taxonomy, a name of more than two terms.^[2][8]
• 1890 – adjective, of such a name.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. In mathematics, an expression that is a sum of terms, each a constant multiplied by one or more variables raised to a positive or zero whole-number power, as 2x² − 5x + 3.^{[11][3][2][6]}
2. In taxonomy, a scientific name made up of more than two terms.^[2][8]

Adjective

1. Of, consisting of or involving a polynomial or polynomials.^[2][3][11]
2. Consisting of many names or terms.^[3][11][2]

Word family

• characteristic polynomial
• polynomial ring
• primitive polynomial

Related words

• binomial
• multinomial
• trinomial
• poly-

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 m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins