| 释义 |
polymorphic, a.|pɒlɪˈmɔːfɪk|
[f. as polymorph + -ic.]
1. Multiform; = polymorphous a. 1.
1816G. S. Faber Orig. Pagan Idol. I. 49 Every animal was a symbol or form of the great polymorphic deity. Ibid. III. 642 The polymorphic images of the principal hero-god. 1885Pall Mall G. 17 Apr. 5/1 Other varieties of independent fancy, in which word-twisting scholars have chosen to discover but the one polymorphic and elusive sun-god.
2. Nat. Hist., etc. = polymorphous a. 2.
1859Darwin Orig. Spec. ii. (1860) 46 Genera which have been called ‘protean’ or ‘polymorphic’, in which the species present an inordinate amount of variation. 1881Gard. Chron. XVI. 621 Polymorphic states of a Phoma. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 416 The shape of the nucleus is constantly undergoing variation, for which reason it is generally described as polymorphic. 1925A. D. Imms Gen. Textbk. Entomol. iii. 257 Termites live together in large communities composed of polymorphic individuals. 1940E. B. Ford in J. S. Huxley New Systematics 503 Though polymorphic forms are to be distinguished from geographical variation, they may be a function of it. 1976R. A. Goldsby Basic Biol. xx. 330/1 (caption) Polymorphic variation in one species of snail, Helicella virgata: different banded and unbanded forms on one plant.
3. Chem. and Min. = polymorphous a. 3.
Now the more usual adj. in this sense.
1895C. S. Palmer tr. Nernst's Theoret. Chem. i. iii. 86 The different polymorphic modifications may exist together..if they are not easily convertible into each other, as diamond and graphite. 1924A. E. Hill in H. S. Taylor Treat. Physical Chem. I. ix. 380 At high pressures there exist several polymorphic forms of ice, differing from the common variety in density, heat of formation, crystalline structure and other physical properties. 1974K. Frye Mod. Mineral. ii. 83 Quartz, tridymite, and cristobalite have high- and low-temperature polymorphs... The high-low polymorphic inversion is rapid and nonquenchable, since it involves no rupture of Si-O bonds. |