multivalent

adjective

mul·​ti·​va·​lent ˌməl-tē-ˈvā-lənt How to pronounce multivalent (audio) -ˌtī- How to pronounce multivalent (audio)
especially in sense 3
ˌməl-ˈti-və- How to pronounce multivalent (audio)
1
2
: represented more than twice in the somatic chromosome number
multivalent chromosomes
3
: having many values, meanings, or appeals
multivalent noun

Examples of multivalent in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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This collection of memories — snapshots of a year in many lives — also serves as a multivalent gay history from almost a decade before Stonewall to the day before yesterday. Nicole Acheampong, New York Times, 26 June 2024 Taormina’s fondly multivalent, Millennial-Norman-Rockwell perspective incorporates a child’s experience of the holiday, overlaid with a teen’s and a parent’s and a grandparent’s and so on. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 17 May 2024 Though Ruscha’s multivalent work was the subject of a mid-career survey at LACMA in 1982, his retrospective — eight years in the making, partly because of COVID — has arrived at a peak moment. Michael Slenske, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024 Despite the multivalent talents of Ives and Mantello, though, the piece, finished without Sondheim, cannot mend the ragged edge torn by his absence. Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2023 See all Example Sentences for multivalent 

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1863, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of multivalent was in 1863

Dictionary Entries Near multivalent

Cite this Entry

“Multivalent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multivalent. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

multivalent

1 of 2 adjective
mul·​ti·​va·​lent ˌməl-ti-ˈvā-lənt How to pronounce multivalent (audio) -ˌtī- How to pronounce multivalent (audio)
1
2
: represented more than twice in the somatic chromosome number
multivalent chromosomes

multivalent

2 of 2 noun
: a multivalent group of chromosomes
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