English

Noun

polygamy ‎(plural polygamies)

1. The having of multiple socially bonded sexual partners at the same time

   Originally polygamy could work either or both ways, but civilisation generally forbids simultaneous husbands

2. The condition of having more than one spouse or marriage partner at one time.
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House

     Miss Griffin was a model of propriety, and I am at a loss to imagine what the feelings of the virtuous woman would have been, if she had known, when she paraded us down the Hampstead Road two and two, that she was walking with a stately step at the head of Polygamy and Mahomedanism.

   • 1991, Kathryn M Daynes, Plural wives and the nineteenth-century Mormon marriage system, page 16

     Because Mormon polygamy was an unusual family form in nineteenth-century America […]

   • 2008, Zeitzen, Miriam Koktvedgaard Polygamy: a cross-cultural analysis, p 3

     Muslims and early Mormon communities have been known to practise polygamy.

3. (zoology) The state or habit of having more than one sexual mate.

   An insect queen actually practices polygamy only one day, while for an alpha-male defending his harem is the very essence of both his status and polygamy

4. (botany) The condition or state of a plant which bears both perfect and unisexual flowers.
5. Commonly used specifically for polygyny, the marriage of a man to more than one wife, or the practice of having several wives, at the same time.

   The Islamic form of polygamy is a husband with up to four wives

Synonyms

• (common restriction) polygyny

Antonyms

• monogamy
• (common use) polyandry

Hyponyms

• polygyny
• polyandry

Derived terms

• polygamist
• polygamize

Related terms

• polygamic
• polygamical
• polygamous
• bigamy
• exogamy

Translations

See also

• concubine
• harem, seraglio