polyandry
the practice or condition of having more than one husband at one time.: Compare monandry (def. 1).
(among female animals) the habit or system of having two or more mates, either simultaneously or successively.
Botany. the state of being polyandrous.
Origin of polyandry
1Words that may be confused with polyandry
Words Nearby polyandry
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use polyandry in a sentence
They practice polyandry.258 Infanticide was frequent among them until suppressed under the action of Government.
Recollections of Thirty-nine Years in the Army | Charles Alexander GordonIn Polynesia, where polyandry was very prevalent, this custom was at one time fairly rampant.
Elements of Folk Psychology | Wilhelm WundtUnder such circumstances the custom of polyandry is intelligible without further explanation.
Elements of Folk Psychology | Wilhelm WundtIt is everywhere set aside, to a greater or less extent, in favour of the two forms of polygamy—polygyny and polyandry.
Elements of Folk Psychology | Wilhelm WundtHence the original form of polygamy was probably not polygyny—the only form, practically, that later occurs—but polyandry.
Elements of Folk Psychology | Wilhelm Wundt
British Dictionary definitions for polyandry
/ (ˈpɒlɪˌændrɪ) /
the practice or condition of being married to more than one husband at the same time: Compare polygamy
the practice in animals of a female mating with more than one male during one breeding season
the condition in flowers of having a large indefinite number of stamens
Origin of polyandry
1- See polygyny
Derived forms of polyandry
- polyandrous, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for polyandry
[ (pol-ee-an-dree) ]
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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