parametric polymorphism

noun

A way to make a computer language more expressive, while maintaining full static type safety, by allowing a function or a data type to be written generically so that it can handle values identically without depending on their type.

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Meanings

nounparametric polymorphism (usually uncountable, plural parametric polymorphisms)

plural parametric polymorphisms

  1. uncountableusuallycomputingA way to make a computer language more expressive, while maintaining full static type safety, by allowing a function or a data type to be written generically so that it can handle values identically without depending on their type.

Origin

Coined by British computer scientist Christopher Strachey in 1967.

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Cite this entry
APA

parametric polymorphism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parametric%20polymorphism

MLA

“parametric polymorphism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parametric%20polymorphism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parametric polymorphism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parametric%20polymorphism.

Source: parametric polymorphism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.