Polytechnic

How to spell polytechnic

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce polytechnic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does polytechnic mean?

1. nounA college offering instruction in a range of practical, vocational, and technical subjects.
2. adjectiveRelating to or covering many practical and technical arts or subjects.

Polytechnic in a sentence

• noun

  She studied mechanical engineering at the local polytechnic.

• adjective

  The city funded a new polytechnic institute for trades and applied sciences.

• noun

  The polytechnic was later granted full university status.

• adjective

  His polytechnic training equipped him for both electrical and plumbing work.

Where does polytechnic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word reaches back to the Greek polytekhnos, meaning 'skilled in many arts', which was built from polus 'many' and tekhne 'art, craft, or skill'. The same tekhne lies behind a whole family of English words, including 'technique', 'technology', and 'technical', so the central spelling chunk 'techn' is worth holding onto. English picked the term up in the early nineteenth century, largely through the French polytechnique, after the famous Ecole Polytechnique was founded in Paris in 1794 to train engineers and scientists. From there it came to name colleges that taught a broad range of practical and technical subjects rather than purely academic ones. The spelling trap sits in the unstressed middle: the 'y' in poly- is easily written as an 'i', and the silent feel of the second vowel hides the 'ny' of 'techn'.

How the word is built

• poly- (many)
• techn (art, craft, skill)
• -ic (adjective/noun suffix)