polygyny
the practice or condition of having more than one wife at one time.
(among male animals) the habit or system of having two or more mates, either simultaneously or successively.
(among social insects) the condition of having two or more functioning queens in a colony.
Botany. the state or condition of having many pistils or styles.
Origin of polygyny
1- Compare monogyny.
Words that may be confused with polygyny
Words Nearby polygyny
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use polygyny in a sentence
It 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 WundtIndeed, this is what has almost universally happened wherever pure polygyny prevails.
Elements of Folk Psychology | Wilhelm WundtIn the northerly regions, where immigration and racial fusion have played a greater rle, both monogamy and polygyny may be found.
Elements of Folk Psychology | Wilhelm WundtThe same is true of America and of Africa, monogamy decidedly predominating in the former and polygyny in the latter.
Elements of Folk Psychology | Wilhelm Wundt
British Dictionary definitions for polygyny
/ (pəˈlɪdʒɪnɪ) /
the practice or condition of being married to more than one wife at the same time: Compare polygamy
the practice in animals of a male mating with more than one female during one breeding season
the condition in flowers of having many carpels
Origin of polygyny
1- See polyandry
Derived forms of polygyny
- polygynist, noun
- polygynous, 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
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