Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The condition or practice of having more than one wife at one time.
- noun A mating pattern in which a male mates with more than one female in a single breeding season.
- noun The condition of having more than one queen. Used of an insect colony.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Marriage or cohabitation of one man with more than one woman at the same time; polygamy as practised by the male.
- noun Of a male animal, the state of having more than one female mate.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The state or practice of having several wives at the same time; marriage to several wives.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The state or practice of having several
wives at the same time;plurality of wives; marriage to several wives - H. Spencer
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun having more than one wife at a time
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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That latter is exceedingly rare, which is why the researchers use the term polygyny and not the often misused polygamy, which refers to multiple partners for both sexes.
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Beppi Crosariol 2011
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That latter is exceedingly rare, which is why the researchers use the term polygyny and not the often misused polygamy, which refers to multiple partners for both sexes.
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Beppi Crosariol 2011
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Michael Ejercito says: newscaper: Michael E — the relationship between war and larger scale polygyny is interesting, as there is a positive feedback loop.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Interracial Marriage Rates Going Up 2010
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Michael E — the relationship between war and larger scale polygyny is interesting, as there is a positive feedback loop.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Interracial Marriage Rates Going Up 2010
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The evidence of human history is strong that polygamy - which in practice has overwhelmingly been polygyny, that is, the marriage of one man to many women - has been oppressive to women, all the way from the harems of the ancient kings of Persia to a contemporary sect in southeastern B.C. Moreover, polygyny also discriminated against men of less power and wealth.
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This ruling did not deal with issues such as polygyny (the practice of marrying more than one wife), the status of respective spouses, maintenance obligations, and marriage termination.
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The more proper term for what Mormons practiced would be "polygyny," or "multiple wives," though a bit of polyandry "multiple husbands" did creep in there at the beginningmuch to the distress of the Saints to whom this fact is pointed out.
Yet another memoir excerptI call this one "Prophet Sharing" shunn 2001
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The more proper term for what Mormons practiced would be "polygyny," or "multiple wives," though a bit of polyandry "multiple husbands" did creep in there at the beginningmuch to the distress of the Saints to whom this fact is pointed out.
Yet another memoir excerptI call this one "Prophet Sharing" shunn 2001
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The most common variation, and that which most clearly possesses a biological foundation, is the tendency to polygyny, which is found at all stages of culture, even, in an unrecognized and more or less promiscuous shape, in the highest civilization. [
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 Sex in Relation to Society Havelock Ellis 1899
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Further, polygamy (more properly polygyny) only arises in more widespread form lalter when human cultures developed enough that significant inequality between males could arise (wrt them having enough resources to to support multiple ‘wives’ and children).
The Volokh Conspiracy » Interracial Marriage Rates Going Up 2010
Prolagus commented on the word polygyny
In zoology, polygyny also refers to ant colonies with multiple queens. Interestingly, the adjective form can be any of the following:
- polygyne
- polygynous
- polygynic
April 16, 2010