dimorphism

UK: /daɪˈmɔːfɪzəm/ US: (dī môr′fiz əm)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

di•mor•phism  (dī môr′fiz əm), n. 

1. Zoology the occurrence of two forms distinct in structure, coloration, etc., among animals of the same species. Cf. sexual dimorphism.
2. Botany the occurrence of two different forms of flowers, leaves, etc., on the same plant or on different plants of the same species.
3. Crystallography the property of some substances of crystallizing in two chemically identical but crystallographically distinct forms.

• dimorph + -ism 1825–35

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

dimorphism / daɪˈmɔːfɪzəm/ noun

1. the occurrence within a plant of two distinct forms of any part, such as the leaves of some aquatic plants
2. the occurrence in an animal or plant species of two distinct types of individual
3. a property of certain substances that enables them to exist in two distinct crystalline forms

diˈmorphic, diˈmorphous adjective