polygamous
Americanadjective
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of, pertaining to, characterized by, or practicing polygamy; polygamic.
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Botany. bearing both unisexual and hermaphrodite flowers on the same or on different plants of the same species.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of polygamous
From the Greek word polýgamos, dating back to 1605–15. See poly-, -gamous
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Explanation
Someone who's polygamous has more than one husband or wife. Polygamous societies still exist, but it's more common for most people today to be married to one person at a time. You can describe someone with seven husbands as polygamous, and you can also use the word to describe an animal with several mates as well as a plant with a particularly varied reproductive system. The Late Greek source is polygamos, "often married," which combines the roots polys, "many," and gamos, "marriage."
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.
