Polynomial comes from poly- (meaning “many”) and -nominal (in this case meaning “term”) … so it says “many terms”. They contain-
| constants (like 3, −20, or ½) |
| variables (like x and y) |
| exponents (like the 2 in y2), but only 0, 1, 2, 3, … etc are allowed |
Monomial, Binomial are some other names expressions containing one, two and three terms respectively.
- If you add polynomials you get a polynomial
- If you multiply polynomials you get a polynomial
So, you can do lots of additions and multiplications, and still have a polynomial as the result.
