A curve obtained by fitting polynomials to each ordinate of an ordered sequence of points. The above plots show polynomial
curves where the order of the fitting polynomial varies
from 
to 
,
where 
is the number of points.
Polynomial curves have several undesirable features, including a nonintuitive variation of fitting curve with varying coefficients, and numerical instability for high orders. Splines such as the Bézier curve are therefore used more commonly.
