In mathematics, the polygamma function of order m is a meromorphic function on the complex numbers  defined as the (m + 1)th derivative of the logarithm of the gamma function:
 defined as the (m + 1)th derivative of the logarithm of the gamma function:
 
Thus
 
holds where ψ(z) is the digamma function and Γ(z) is the gamma function. They are holomorphic on  . At all the nonpositive integers these polygamma functions have a pole of order m + 1. The function ψ(1)(z) is sometimes called the trigamma function.
. At all the nonpositive integers these polygamma functions have a pole of order m + 1. The function ψ(1)(z) is sometimes called the trigamma function.
The logarithm of the gamma function and the first few polygamma functions in the complex plane
|  |  |  | 
| ln Γ(z) | ψ(0)(z) | ψ(1)(z) | 
|  |  |  | 
| ψ(2)(z) | ψ(3)(z) | ψ(4)(z) |