Getting started
Polymarket Glossary: 30 Terms Explained
Share, order book, taker, oracle, equal stakes… Here are the words that keep coming up on Polymarket and in our guides, each explained in one sentence.
Markets and prices
- Market
- A question with outcomes, for example "Will PSG win this game?".
- Event
- A group of related markets: all the markets of the same game or the same election.
- Outcome
- A possible answer: "Yes", "No", or a candidate's name.
- Share
- What you buy: worth $1 if the outcome happens, $0 otherwise.
- Price
- The cost of a share, between $0 and $1: the probability estimated by the market.
- Odds
- The sportsbook equivalent of a price: 1 / price (2.00 for a price of 0.50).
- Volume
- The total amount traded on a market or by a player.
- Liquidity
- The amount of available orders: the more there are, the easier it is to buy and sell.
Orders and execution
- Order book
- The list of pending buy and sell offers, at each price.
- Market order
- An order filled right away at the best available price.
- Limit order
- An order at a set price, waiting for another player to accept it.
- Maker
- Whoever posts an order in the book; usually pays no fees.
- Taker
- Whoever takes an existing order; this side pays Polymarket's fees.
- Spread
- The difference between the best sell price and the best buy price.
- Slippage
- The difference between the expected price and the price actually obtained.
Resolution
- Resolution
- The moment the market is settled and winning shares are worth $1.
- Oracle (UMA)
- The system that validates the outcome of most Polymarket markets.
- Dispute
- The period during which a proposed outcome can be challenged before it becomes final.
- Market rules
- The text that defines exactly what counts and the official source.
Money and wallet
- USDC
- A digital dollar (stablecoin) always worth $1. See our USDC guide.
- Polygon
- The blockchain Polymarket runs on: fast and almost free.
- Wallet
- The address that holds your funds and positions, publicly visible.
- Private key
- The secret that controls a wallet: never share it.
- Relayer
- A service that submits transactions for you and covers network fees.
Copy trading
- Copy trading
- Automatically reproducing another player's positions. See the complete guide.
- PnL
- Profit and loss: the gain or loss, realised or unrealised.
- Edge
- Profit relative to volume traded: $1 earned on $100 traded = 1%.
- Equal stakes
- Recomputing a trader's results as if every bet had the same stake, to judge their picks alone.
- Bot (high frequency)
- A program placing thousands of orders a day on small gaps: almost never copyable.
- Market maker
- A player who constantly quotes buy and sell prices to earn the spread.
- Window mirage
- A trader who is excellent over a short period but mediocre over the year.
- Mention market
- A market on whether a public figure says or posts a word. See our guide.