polymeric Meaning, Definition & Usage

Pol`y*mer"ic adjective

Etymology

Poly- + Gr. part.

Definitions

1. (Chem.) Having the same percentage composition (that is, having the same elements united in the same proportion by weight), but different molecular weights; -- often used with with; thus, cyanic acid (CNOH), fulminic acid (C2N2O2H2), and cyanuric acid (C3N3O3H3), are polymeric with each other. ✍ The figures expressing the number of atoms of each element in a number of polymeric substances are respectively multiples and factors of each other, or have some simple common divisor. The relation may be merely a numerical one, as in the example given above, or a chemical one, as in the case of aldehyde, paraldehyde, and metaldehyde. 2. consisting of multiple units linked together by covalent bonds to form a larger molecule