The degree of a polynomial is defined as the greatest of the degrees of its terms. For example, the following is a polynomial of degree $5.$ The monomial with the highest degree is $4x{y}^4.$ This means that the degree of the polynomial is $1+4=5.$ In other cases, if a polynomial consists of only a nonzero constant term, the polynomial has degree $0.$ For the special case of the zero polynomial, the degree is undefined. The following table summarizes this information by providing some specific examples.

Polynomial	Degree
$\text{-}5x^{2}y+x^2{y}^4-11x^2-3$	$6$
$x-11x^4+8x^3$	$4$
$7$	$0$
$0$	Undefined

Depending on the degree of a polynomial, it can have different characteristics. For example, a polynomial with degree $1$ is linear, and a polynomial with degree $2$ is quadratic.