Polytechnic

adj, noun

adj, noun ·4 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An educational institute that teaches applied arts and sciences rather than academic subjects. UK, dated
  2. 2
    a technical school offering instruction in many industrial arts and applied sciences wordnet
  3. 3
    An exhibition of objects illustrating many arts. obsolete
  4. 4
    A three-year post-secondary vocational training institute, equivalent of community college in the U.S. or TAFE in Australia. Singapore
Adjective
  1. 1
    That teaches applied arts, sciences, technology, engineering and other academic subjects. not-comparable

Synonyms

All synonyms
engineering schoolindustrial schoolmonotechnicpolytechnic institutepolytechnic instituteprofessional university

Example

More examples

"I've got a degree from a polytechnic."

Etymology

First attested in 1805. From French polytechnique, from the École polytechnique, engineering school founded 1794 in Paris; from Greek πολύτεχνος "skilled in many arts," from πολύς "many" (see poly-) + τέχνη "art" (see technic).

Related phrases

institute of technology

More for "polytechnic"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.