polygyny
Americannoun
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the practice or condition of having more than one wife at one time.
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(among male animals) the habit or system of having two or more mates, either simultaneously or successively.
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(among social insects) the condition of having two or more functioning queens in a colony.
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Botany. the state or condition of having many pistils or styles.
noun
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the practice or condition of being married to more than one wife at the same time Compare polygamy
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the practice in animals of a male mating with more than one female during one breeding season
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the condition in flowers of having many carpels
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of polygyny
1770–80; < Greek polygýn ( aios ) having many wives ( see poly-, gyn-) + -y 3
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.
To compensate for the disappearance of so many young men, who were the laborers most preferred by plantation owners, many African ethnic groups adopted polygyny, allowing men to take multiple wives.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
Adult relationships vary in form across societies and include not only the type most common around the world today — heterosexual monogamy — but also same-sex marriage, nonmarital unions, polyamory, polygyny and polyandry.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022
While the tomb reveals evidence of polygyny - men having children with multiple women - it also shows that polyandry was also widespread: women having children with multiple men.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2021
Some scholars suspect that polygyny may discourage paternal investment.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2012
On the contrary, we find many other causes, chiefly, perhaps, economic, operating also to favor the development of polygyny.
From Sociology and Modern Social Problems by Charles A. (Charles Abram) Ellwood
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.
