polyvalent

[ pol-ee-vey-luhnt, puh-liv-uh-luhnt ]

adjective

1. Chemistry. having more than one valence.
2. Bacteriology. (of an immune serum) containing several antibodies, each capable of reacting with a specific antigen.

polyvalent

/ ˌpɒlɪˈveɪlənt; pəˈlɪvələnt /

adjective

1. chem having more than one valency
2. of a vaccine
   1. effective against several strains of the same disease-producing microorganism, antigen, or toxin
   2. produced from cultures containing several strains of the same microorganism

polyvalent

/ pŏl′ē-vā′lənt /

1. Acting against or interacting with more than one kind of antigen, antibody, toxin, or microorganism.
2. Having more than one valence. Iron and manganese are polyvalent elements.

Derived Forms

• ˌpolyˈvalency, noun

Other Words From

• poly·valence noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of polyvalent¹

First recorded in 1880–85; poly- + -valent

Example Sentences

Minaj — a theater kid with a vicious tongue, a fierce freestyler, a polyvalent character actor — definitively broke that stalemate, becoming a pop superstar without having to strictly follow in the footsteps of any of those women.

From New York Times

Overall, they found ions with the highest valency -- mostly phosphates -- were most effective and they began going down a list of polyvalent ions, ruling out some, as well as finding new ions that worked for this application, including silicate and borate.

From Science Daily

“We submitted a proposal for a polyvalent opioid vaccine that aimed to help users in recovery from opioid use disorder by protecting them from relapse and overdose, basically by inducing an immune response against any opioids that they consume,” said Poddar, who plays second doubles on the tennis squad.

From Washington Post

“So we wanted to find a way to make it, like, polyvalent and able to target more than one drug.”

From Washington Post

The European Commission said Alstom will sell a French rail factory, its regional train unit Coradia Polyvalent, and a Bombardier commuter trains division and the related production facilities at its Hennigsdorf site in Germany.

From Reuters