bipolar

English

Etymology

bi- +‎ polar

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /baɪˈpəʊ.lə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /baɪˈpoʊ.lɚ/
• Rhymes: -əʊlə(ɹ)

Adjective

bipolar (comparative more bipolar, superlative most bipolar)

1. Involving or having both extremes or poles at the same time.
   • 1992, Paul Gilbert, Depression: The Evolution of Powerlessness:

     (4) the unipolar-bipolar distinction is important in regard to these personality variables; the trait of extraversion (associated as it is with positive affectivity) may mean that individual variation here leads to a more bipolar pattern; ...

   • 1997, David A. Lake, Patrick M. Morgan, Regional Orders: Building Security in a New World:

     Pakistan greatly resents this, but its efforts to adjust the complex have involved trying to make it more bipolar (via nuclear weapons), and not to move to another security order.

   • 2006, Leandro Herrero, The Leader with Seven Faces: finding your own ways to practice leadership in today's organization:

     And today, the world has become more and more bipolar.

2. Relating to both polar regions.
3. (physics) Relating to a bipole.
4. Relating to or having bipolar disorder.

   Synonym: (dated) manic-depressive

   • 2005, Barbara E. Bryden, Sundial: Theoretical Relationships Between Psychological Type, Talent, and Disease:

     And in both visual artists and creative writers, there is a considerably higher risk of affective disorder, more unipolar (depression only) in artists, and more bipolar (mania and depression) in writers, and leading to higher rates of alcoholism and suicide, particularly in writers (Andreasen 1987; DeLong & Aldershof, 1988; Jamison, 1986, 1995).

   • 2005, Robert H. Coombs, editor, Family Therapy Review: Preparing for Comprehensive and Licensing Examinations:

     Since many childhood depressions become more bipolar in adult life, and because Jay's father was bipolar, I added Depakote to "protect" him against this bipolar possibility.

   • 2006, Jon P. Bloch, Jeffrey A. Naser, The everything health guide to adult bipolar disorder:

     If a bipolar person you work with is receiving successful treatment, you might not even know that she is bipolar.

5. (politics) Of or relating to an international system in which two states wield most of the cultural, economic, and political influence.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

bipolar (countable and uncountable, plural bipolars)

1. (countable) A bipolar cell.
2. (uncountable) Ellipsis of bipolar disorder.

Anagrams

• parboil

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

bipolar m or f (masculine and feminine plural bipolars)

1. bipolar

Derived terms

• trastorn bipolar

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bipolar/,

Adjective

bipolar

1. bipolar (involving two poles)

Inflection

Synonyms

• bipolær

Derived terms

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

bipolar (strong nominative masculine singular bipolarer, not comparable)

1. bipolar

   Synonyms: doppelpolig, manisch-depressiv, zweipolig

Declension

Further reading

• “bipolar” in Duden online
• “bipolar” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Adjective

bipolar m or f (plural bipolares)

1. bipolar (involving both poles)
2. (psychiatry) bipolar (relating to or having bipolar disorder)

Related terms

• dipolar

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French bipolaire. Equivalent to bi- +‎ polar.

Adjective

bipolar m or n (feminine singular bipolară, masculine plural bipolari, feminine and neuter plural bipolare)

1. bipolar

Declension

Related terms

• bipolaritate

Spanish

Etymology

From bi- +‎ polar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bipoˈlaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: bi‧po‧lar

Adjective

bipolar m or f (masculine and feminine plural bipolares)

1. bipolar

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “bipolar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014