Polymarket glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms you will see on Polymarket and in our guides.
- Ask
- The lowest price someone is currently willing to sell at.
- Bid
- The highest price someone is currently willing to buy at.
- Close-only
- A restriction status: you can close existing positions but not open new ones.
- Dispute
- A challenge to a proposed outcome. A first dispute triggers a new proposal; a second goes to a vote of UMA token holders.
- Event
- A group of related markets, e.g. all candidates in one election.
- Expected value (EV)
- The average result of a trade if repeated many times: probability-weighted payout minus cost.
- Fee rate
- The category constant in Polymarket's fee formula, e.g. 0.04 for politics.
- Geoblock
- Polymarket's restriction of users in certain countries or regions.
- Implied probability
- The probability suggested by a price: 30¢ implies 30%.
- Kelly criterion
- A formula for sizing bets in proportion to your edge.
- Limit order
- An order to buy or sell only at a set price or better.
- Liquidity
- How much can be traded near the current price without moving it.
- Maker
- A trader whose resting order is filled by someone else. Pays no fee.
- Market order
- An order that fills immediately at the best available prices.
- Maker rebate
- A daily payment to makers funded by a share of taker fees.
- A token that pays $1 if its outcome happens and $0 otherwise.
- Polygon
- The blockchain network Polymarket settles on.
- Polymarket US
- Polymarket's separate CFTC-regulated exchange for US residents.
- Proposal
- The first answer submitted to the oracle after an event, which can be challenged.
- pUSD
- Polymarket USD, the USDC-backed token used as trading collateral.
- Redeem
- Converting winning shares into cash balance after resolution.
- Resolution
- The final settlement of a market as YES, NO or another outcome.
- Resolution source
- The publication, agency or data feed named in the rules that decides the outcome.
- Slippage
- Getting a worse average price than expected because your order eats through the book.
- Spread
- The gap between bid and ask.
- Taker
- A trader whose order fills immediately against existing orders. Pays the fee.
- UMA Optimistic Oracle
- The system most Polymarket markets use to settle outcomes.
Ready to try it? Check it is available where you live, then open Polymarket.
Open Polymarket