Standard Lemma guide

poly-

prefix · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpɒ.li-/
  • General-American: /ˈpɑ.li-/
  • Australian: /ˈpɔ.li-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /pəˈlɪ-/
  • New-Zealand: /pəˈlə-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

prefix

Meaning 1

many

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • polydactyl, polyglot, polyvalent

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: multi-, pleo-, pleio-

Antonyms: mono-, uni-

2

prefix

Meaning 2

polymer

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • polyacetal, polyethene, polyether

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

prefix

Meaning 3

polyamory

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • polycule, polyphobia, polyfamily

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh1- Proto-Indo-European *polh1ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many, much”), from Proto-Indo-European *polh1ús (“much, many”). Unrelated to -poly.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: բազմ- (bazm-) — many
  • Catalan: poli- — many
  • Chinese Mandarin: 聚 (jù) — many
  • Chinese Mandarin: 多 (duō) — many
  • Danish: poly- — many
  • Dutch: poly- — many
  • Esperanto: plur- — many
  • Esperanto: poli- — many
  • Finnish: moni- — many
  • Finnish: poly- — many
  • French: poly- — many
  • Galician: poli- — many
  • Georgian: პოლი- (ṗoli-) — many
  • Georgian: მრავალ- (mraval-) — many
  • German: poly- — many
  • Greek: πολυ- (poly-) — many
  • Hindi: बहु- (bahu-) — many
  • Hungarian: poli- — many
  • Irish: pola- — many
  • Italian: poli- — many
  • Japanese: 多 (ta-) — many
  • Japanese: 重 (jū-) — many
  • Korean: 다 (da) — many
  • Malay: poli- — many
  • Norwegian Bokmål: poly- — many
  • Persian: بسـ (bas-) — many
  • Persian: پرـ (porr-) — many
  • Polish: poli- — many
  • Portuguese: poli- — many
  • Russian: поли- (poli-) — many
  • Scottish Gaelic: ioma- — many
  • Spanish: poli- — many
  • Swedish: poly- — many
  • Turkish: çok- — many