Polynomial Meaning
/ˌpɒlɪˈnəʊmɪəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn expression consisting of a sum of a finite number of terms, each term being the product of a constant coefficient and one or more variables raised to a non-negative integer power, such as a_nxⁿ+a_n-1xⁿ⁻¹+...+a_0x⁰.
nounA taxonomic designation (such as of a subspecies) consisting of more than two terms.
Sentence Examples
No algorithm that can solve this problem in polynomial time has been found yet.
Is this a polynomial?
CEFR Practice Quiz
In algebra class, we learned how to solve a complex ____ with many terms.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The mathematician solved the ____ equation by factoring it into simpler expressions.
Word Origin & History
From poly- + -nomial, from νομός (nomós, “portion, part”), by analogy with binomial.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Unfortunately, an analogous attack on the octic polynomial becomes exceedingly complicated."
— 1999, William Dunham, Euler: The Master of Us All, Mathematical Association of America, published 1999, page 116:
"Our upper bound is the best possible, and it implies the existence of low-rank factorizations of positive semidefinite bivariate matrix polynomials and representations of biforms as sums of few squares."
— 2016, Grigoriy Blekherman, Daniel Plaumann, Rainer Sinn, Cynthia Vinzant, “Low-Rank Sum-of-Squares Representations on Varieties of Minimal Degree”, in arXiv:
"Alternatively, there are polynomials denoting stages of the day: tónglóng 曈昽 “ light at daybreak”; or meteorological phenomena, such as wùsōng 雾凇 “(soft) rime”, àidài 叆叇 “ (of clouds) dense”."
— 2023, Martina Jemelková, “On the Nature of Zero-Meaning Sinograms: Typology and Thematic Classification”, in Studia Orientalia Slovaca, volume 22, number 2:
"The same corpus is used as in the analysis of the thematic scope of polynomials, except that in this case only 720 binomes will be considered."
— 2025, Martina Jemelková, “Chinese Binomes: A Graphical or Phonological Construct?”, in Acta Linguistica Asiatica, volume 15, number 2, →DOI:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In algebra class, we learned how to solve a complex ____ with many terms.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The mathematician solved the ____ equation by factoring it into simpler expressions.