polytype

P3O1L1Y4T1Y4P3E1

noun

Any of the types involved in polytypism.

“to polytype an engraving”

OriginEnglish type ← Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s) ← Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús →
Scrabble 18
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Meanings

nounpolytype (plural polytypes)

plural polytypes

  1. Any of the types involved in polytypism.

    Orthochrysotile is a polytype of chrysotile.

  2. A cast, or facsimile copy, of an engraved block, matter in type, etc.

    Towards the end of the eighteenth century , Professor Wilson of Glasgow , being engaged in a series of experiments for making etchings upon glass with fluoric acid for the purposes of art , thought it possible to make polytypes of glass from engraved copperplates

    1825, Thomas Curson Hansard, Typographia, an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing
  3. computingIn the Hindley–Milner type system, a data type containing variables bound by one or more ∀ (for-all) quantifiers.
verbpolytype (third-person singular simple present polytypes, present participle polytyping, simple past and past participle polytyped)

present singular third person polytypes · participle present polytyping · participle past polytyped · past polytyped

  1. transitiveTo produce a polytype of.

    to polytype an engraving

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
  3. Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
  4. Englishpoly-
  5. Englishtype
  6. Englishpolytype

From poly- + type.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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