polymer

polymer — noun

1. a natural or man-made substance whose molecules are long chains built from many

1.nounC1
Definition

a natural or man-made substance whose molecules are long chains built from many repeating small units.

Example

Engineers chose a tough polymer for the phone case.

common pattern: polymer for [product]

In class, Ms Chen showed banana DNA as a natural polymer.

collocation: natural polymer

Common collocations
  • natural polymer
  • synthetic polymer
  • polymer chain
  • biodegradable polymer
  • polymer material
Synonyms
  • plastic

    the everyday word for many manufactured polymers used in common products

  • resin

    often narrower and used for a liquid or hard-setting polymer material

  • compound

    a much broader chemistry term that is not specific enough in most learner contexts

Usage Note

Usually countable in scientific or technical writing and often modified by words such as natural, synthetic, or biodegradable. In everyday speech, people more often name the specific material, such as plastic, rubber, or nylon.

Common Mistakes

This lunch box is made of polymer.
This lunch box is made of plastic.
for ordinary objects, everyday English usually uses the material name, not the technical word 'polymer'.
Nylon is a plastic, not a polymer.
Nylon is a polymer, and it is also a kind of plastic.
'polymer' is the broader scientific category.

Word family

  • polymeric
    adjectiveC2
  • polymerize
    verbC2
  • polymerization
    nounC2
  • copolymer
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Polymer is the scientific umbrella word here. It names a material whose structure is built from many repeated small parts, so it works well in chemistry, engineering, and materials science. Plastic is the everyday word for many manufactured polymers used in bottles, toys, and bags, so learners usually meet it first. Resin is narrower: it often refers to a sticky liquid, or to a polymer substance that hardens during making or repair work. Rubber is one particular type of polymer, valued for stretch and flexibility, not a general label for the whole class. So people buy a plastic bucket, repair a table with resin, wear rubber gloves, and study all three as polymers.

polymer ↗plastic ↗resin ↗rubber ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • polymer chain
  • polymer science
  • polymer structure
  • polymer film

Phrases

  • natural polymer
  • synthetic polymer
  • polymer blend
  • biodegradable polymer

Prepositions

  • polymer for
  • polymer in

Etymology

GreekEnglish

Polymer was formed in nineteenth-century scientific English from Greek parts meaning 'many' and 'part'. The name was chosen for substances built from many repeated parts joined together into larger structures.