# polymer

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɒl.ɪ.mə/ · frequency rank #12,301

## Definitions
1. A long or larger molecule consisting of a chain or network of many repeating units, formed by chemically bonding together many identical or similar small molecules called monomers. A polymer is formed by polymerization, the joining of many monomer molecules.
2. A material consisting of such polymer molecules.

## Etymology
From poly- + -mer, from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”) + μέρος (méros, “part”). Coined by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1833, though his definition was quite different from the modern one.

## Easily confused with
- **polymeric** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/polymer-vs-polymeric)
- **Palmer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/palmer-vs-polymer)

## Common misspellings (11)
`oplymer`, `ploymer`, `pollymer`, `polmyer`, `polyemr`, `polymerr`, `polymmer`, `polymre`, `polyymer`, `poylmer`, `ppolymer`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/polymer