polygyny

American  

[puh-lij-uh-nee] / pəˈlɪdʒ ə ni /

noun

1. the practice or condition of having more than one wife at one time.

2. (among male animals) the habit or system of having two or more mates, either simultaneously or successively.

3. (among social insects) the condition of having two or more functioning queens in a colony.

4. Botany. the state or condition of having many pistils or styles.

---

polygyny British  

/ pəˈlɪdʒɪnɪ /

noun

1. the practice or condition of being married to more than one wife at the same time Compare polygamy

2. the practice in animals of a male mating with more than one female during one breeding season

3. the condition in flowers of having many carpels

---

Other Word Forms

• polygynist noun
• polygynous adjective

Etymology

Origin of polygyny

1770–80; < Greek polygýn ( aios ) having many wives ( poly-, gyn- ) + -y ³

Example Sentences

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

In resourced-based polygyny, males compete for territories with the best resources, and then mate with females that enter the territory, drawn to its resource richness.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 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

The Canadian researchers are really talking about polygyny, which is the term for one man with multiple wives, and which is by far the most common expression of polygamy.

From Slate • Jan. 30, 2012

Among our European ancestors, alike among Germans and Celts, polygyny and other sexual forms existed as occasional variations.

From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 Sex in Relation to Society by Ellis, Havelock