Polyvalent's a synonym for multivalent and denotes something which has many values, meanings or appeals. The metaphoric origin of 's derived from valency in chemistry and by metaphoric attribution, may now a "subtle, polyvalent allegory". In chemistry the terms polyvalent or multivalent can be used to refer to species which aren't univalent or monovalent. For example, the Cs+ cation's a univalent or monovalent cation, whereas the Ca++ cation's a divalent or polyvalent or multivalent cation and t… (More on Polyvalent)