polymorphic

Polymorphic is an adjective derived from the Greek poly- meaning "many" and morph meaning "form." It denotes something that can take or exist in multiple forms or appearances.

In biology, polymorphism refers to the occurrence of two or more distinct phenotypes or genetic forms within a population of a species. Polymorphism arises from genetic variation, environmental factors, or interactions between the two. Classic examples include human blood types (ABO system), color morphs in animals, and various wing or pattern morphs in insects.

In crystallography and materials science, polymorphism describes a substance that can crystallize in more than one crystal structure. Different forms can exhibit distinct physical properties such as melting point, hardness, or solubility. In pharmacology, polymorphism affects drug stability and bioavailability, with some medicines existing as multiple polymorphic forms that can differ in efficacy or manufacturability.

In computer science, polymorphism refers to the ability of a single interface or operation to take on multiple forms. In object-oriented programming, subtype polymorphism allows a base-type reference to point to objects of derived types. Parametric polymorphism uses generic types, while ad hoc polymorphism includes function or operator overloading. This enables code to be written more flexibly and reused across different data types.

In cybersecurity, polymorphic techniques describe malware that changes its code appearance while preserving its behavior, making detection by signature-based methods more challenging.