+8581 Polynomial comes from poly- (meaning "many") and -nomial (in this case meaning "term") ... so it says "many terms"
A polynomial can have:
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
Used Google..
