exogamy
Americannoun
-
marriage outside a specific tribe or similar social unit.
-
Biology. the union of gametes of unrelated parents.
noun
-
sociol anthropol the custom or an act of marrying a person belonging to another tribe, clan, or similar social unit Compare endogamy
-
biology fusion of gametes from parents that are not closely related
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exogamy
Compare meaning
How does exogamy compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Communities were locally centred around a main patriline, were related to each other through the systematic practice of female exogamy.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
For under the conventions is a shrewd stockbreeder's intuition that blood lines are strengthened by a little exogamy.
From Time Magazine Archive
They are divided into seven tribes, obviously totemic, and with rules as to exogamy still in force.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various
Where totemism now exists in full force, there we find exogamy and derivation of the family name through women, the latter custom indicating uncertainty of male parentage in the past.
From Custom and Myth New Edition by Lang, Andrew
Lennan’s theory, exogamy is the result of scarcity of women, and implies polyandry and female kinship.
From Custom and Myth New Edition by Lang, Andrew
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
