polygrammaticadj.
/ˌpɒlɪɡrəˈmatɪk/, U.S. /ˌpɑliɡrəˈmædɪk/ Designating a form of semaphore in which several pairs of pivoted movable arms are employed, arranged on several upright posts or on a single post. Now historical.This system of semaphore was devised by General Sir Charles Pasley (1780–1861), British army officer.
ΚΠ
1808 C. W. Pasley in Philos. Mag. 29 293 I now proceed to describe the nature of the telegraph proposed, which..I shall call the Polygrammatic Telegraph.
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 148/2 He [sc. Captain Pasley], in 1807,..devised what he termed a ‘polygrammatic telegraph’... This machine..consisted of four posts, at the top of each of which was pivoted a pair of arms. Each pair of arms was capable..of forming more than a sufficient variety of distinct signals to express any of the numerals or the 0.
1879 J. M. Ross Globe Encycl. V. 566/2 Captain Pasley's ‘polygrammatic telegraph’..was introduced in 1809.
1976 G. Wilson Old Telegraphs ix. 116 He..progressed to the idea of having one tall post carrying..four pairs, and then three pairs of arms. He called his new apparatus the ‘Second Polygrammatic Telegraph’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1808