Standard Lemma guide

polyphosphate

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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

any of a class of inorganic polymers containing linked phosphate groups; the low molecular weight polymers, such as sodium tripolyphosphate, are used in water softening and as food additives

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a salt or ester of polyphosphoric acid

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: salt

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh1- Proto-Indo-European *polh1ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- English phosphate English polyphosphate From poly- + phosphate.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: polifosfat — class of inorganic polymers
  • Esperanto: polifosfato — class of inorganic polymers
  • Finnish: polyfosfaatti — class of inorganic polymers
  • Romanian: polifosfat — class of inorganic polymers
  • Spanish: polifosfato — class of inorganic polymers