polyextremophile

noun

An organism which can tolerate two or more extreme environmental factors.

OriginEnglish extremophile ← Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos) ← Proto-Indo-European *bʰil-o-s →
Scrabble 35
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Meanings

nounpolyextremophile (plural polyextremophiles)

plural polyextremophiles

  1. biologyAn organism which can tolerate two or more extreme environmental factors.

    Indeed, their ability to survive many different types of extreme qualify them as 'polyextremophiles'.

    2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 95

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
  3. Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
  4. Englishpoly-
  5. Englishextreme
  6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰil-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰil-o-s
  8. Ancient Greekφίλος (phílos)
  9. Englishextremophile
  10. Englishpolyextremophile

From poly- + extremophile.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“polyextremophile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polyextremophile. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “polyextremophile,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polyextremophile.

Source: polyextremophile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.