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.

Origin of polyvalent

1
First recorded in 1880–85; poly- + -valent

Other words from polyvalent

  • pol·y·va·lence, noun

Words Nearby polyvalent

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How to use polyvalent in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for polyvalent

polyvalent

/ (ˌpɒlɪˈveɪlənt, pəˈlɪvələnt) /


adjective
  1. chem having more than one valency

  2. (of a vaccine)

    • effective against several strains of the same disease-producing microorganism, antigen, or toxin

    • produced from cultures containing several strains of the same microorganism

Derived forms of polyvalent

  • polyvalency, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for polyvalent

polyvalent

[ pŏl′ē-vālənt ]


  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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.