noun · 2 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.
UK:/ˌpɒl.ɪ.məɹ.aɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P AA2 L IH0 M ER0 AH0 Z EY1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The chemical process, normally with the aid of a catalyst, to form a polymer by bonding together multiple identical units (monomers).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
a chemical process that combines several monomers to form a polymer or polymeric compound
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: polymerisation
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: chemical process, chemical change, chemical action
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh1- Proto-Indo-European *polh1ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer-der. Proto-Hellenic *(h)méros Ancient Greek μέρος (méros)lbor. English -mer English polymer Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English polymerize Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English polymerization From polymerize + -ation.
Across languages
Translations
14 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Catalan:
polimerització
— process in which polymers are formed
Czech:
polymerizace
— process in which polymers are formed
Dutch:
polymerisatie
— process in which polymers are formed
Finnish:
polymerisaatio
— process in which polymers are formed
French:
polymérisation
— process in which polymers are formed
Indonesian:
polimerisasi
— process in which polymers are formed
Italian:
polimerizzazione
— process in which polymers are formed
Japanese:
重合
(jūgō)
— process in which polymers are formed
Malay:
pempolimeran
— process in which polymers are formed
Māori:
whakawaerautanga
— process in which polymers are formed
Polish:
polimeryzacja
— process in which polymers are formed
Romanian:
polimerizare
— process in which polymers are formed
Russian:
полимериза́ция
(polimerizácija)
— process in which polymers are formed
Spanish:
polimerización
— process in which polymers are formed