Standard Lemma guide

polyp

noun · 5 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.

  • General-American: /ˈpɑlɪp/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpɒlɪp/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒlɪp
  • CMU ARPABET: P AA1 L IH0 P Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A cylindrical coelenterate, such as the hydra, having a mouth surrounded with tentacles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A cylindrical coelenterate, such as the hydra, having a mouth surrounded with tentacles.

The sessile life stage of many cnidarians, whose free-swimming stage, if present, is the medusa.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An abnormal growth protruding from a mucous membrane.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

one of two forms that coelenterates take (e.g. a hydra or coral): usually sedentary with a hollow cylindrical body usually with a ring of tentacles around the mouth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • in some species of coelenterate, polyps are a phase in the life cycle that alternates with a medusoid phase

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: coelenterate, cnidarian

5

noun

Meaning 5

a small vascular growth on the surface of a mucous membrane

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: polypus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: growth

Narrower terms: adenomatous polyp, sessile polyp, pedunculated polyp

History

Etymology

From Latin polypus (“a polyp, a polypus in the nose”), from Ancient Greek πολύπους (polúpous, from πολύς (polús, “many”) + πούς (poús, “foot”)). Doublet of polypus.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: полип (polip) — growth
  • Catalan: pòlip — growth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 息肉 (xīròu) — growth
  • Czech: polyp — growth
  • Dutch: poliep — growth
  • Esperanto: polipo — growth
  • Finnish: polyyppi — growth
  • French: polype — growth
  • German: Polyp — growth
  • Icelandic: sepi — growth
  • Italian: polipo — growth
  • Japanese: ポリープ (porīpu) — growth
  • Japanese: ポリプ (poripu) — growth
  • Portuguese: pólipo — growth
  • Russian: поли́п (políp) — growth
  • Slovene: políp — growth
  • Spanish: pólipo — growth
  • Swedish: polyp — growth
  • Bulgarian: полип (polip) — coelenterate
  • Catalan: pòlip — coelenterate
  • Czech: polyp — coelenterate
  • Dutch: poliep — coelenterate
  • Finnish: polyyppi — coelenterate
  • French: polype — coelenterate
  • German: Polyp — coelenterate
  • Greek: πολύποδας (polýpodas) — coelenterate
  • Hungarian: polip — coelenterate
  • Icelandic: holsepi — coelenterate
  • Italian: polipo — coelenterate
  • Portuguese: pólipo — coelenterate
  • Russian: поли́п (políp) — coelenterate
  • Spanish: pólipo — coelenterate
  • Swedish: polyp — coelenterate
  • Bulgarian: полип (polip) — the sessile life stage of a coelenterate