Standard Lemma guide

polymerization

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

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences

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
Real reading context

polymerization in complete knowledge articles