poly
French, noun
poly is spelled P-O-L-Y (4 letters) and appears 1.6 times per million words in written French, the 23,487th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Poly is a French feminine noun meaning “clipping of polytechnique; itself a clipping of institut polytechnique or école polytechnique” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, poly. is a different word: “alternative form of poly”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Polycopié”.
What does poly mean in English?
adjective
- 1
slangclipping of polytechnique
- 2
slangclipping of polyvalent
noun
- 1
femininemasculineslangclipping of polytechnique; itself a clipping of institut polytechnique or école polytechnique
- 2
femininemasculineslangclipping of polyvalente; itself a clipping of institut polyvalent or école polyvalente
prefix
- 1
poly- (many)
adjective
- 1
alternative form of poly
noun
- 1
alternative form of poly
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
prefix: 1. Qui est constitué de plusieurs éléments du type du mot qui suit, en général un grand nombre de ceux-ci.
noun: 1. Polycopié.
noun: 1. Synonyme de polymultipliée.
noun: 1. Polyvalente, école secondaire publique au Québec.
adjective: 1. Qui pratique le polyamour, qui vit en même temps plusieurs relations amoureuses.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of poly
- polys plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to poly
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is poly in French?
poly appears 1.6 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).