Polymorphism is the ability of something to exist in many different forms. In science and computing, it often means one basic structure or function that can appear or behave in different ways.
From Greek *poly-* “many” and *morphē* “form, shape,” plus *-ism*. It literally means “many-formed-ness.”
In programming, polymorphism lets one function name handle different data types; in biology, a species can have different physical forms. The same Greek idea quietly powers both how we write code and how nature experiments with bodies.
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