Polygamy

Noun

 * 1) The having of a plurality of socially bonded sexual partners at the same time
 * ''Originally polygamy could work either or both ways, but civilisation generally forbids simultaneous husbands
 * 1) Commonly used specifically for polygyny, the marriage of a man to more than one wife, or the practice of having several wives, at the same time.
 * ''The Islamic form of polygamy is a husband with up to four wives
 * 1)  The state or habit of having more than one sexual mate.
 * ''An insect queen actually practices polygamy only one day, while for an alpha-male defending his harem is the very essence of both his status and polygamy
 * 1)  The condition or state of a plant which bears both perfect and unisexual flowers.

Synonyms

 * (common restriction) polygyny

Antonyms

 * monogamy
 * (common use) polyandry

Hyponyms

 * polygyny
 * polyandry

Derived terms

 * polygamist
 * polygamize

Related terms

 * polygamic
 * polygamical
 * polygamous
 * bigamy
 * exogamy

Adjectives for Polygamy
praiseworthy;  desirable;   indiscriminate; outlawed.

Thesaurus
beena marriage, bigamy, common-law marriage, companionate marriage, concubinage, deuterogamy, left-handed marriage, levirate, leviration, love match, marriage of convenience, monandry, monogamy, monogyny, morganatic marriage, picture marriage, polyandry, polygyny, trial marriage, trigamy

Etymology
Recorded since 1591, from Late polygamia, from  (polygamia), itself from from (polygamos) "often married," from (polys) "many" + (gamos) "marriage".

Translations

 * Arabic: تعدد الأزواج,  تعدد الزوجات
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:, 一夫多妻
 * Croatian:
 * Czech: ,
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto: poligamio, pluredzeco
 * Finnish: ,
 * French:
 * Greek: πολυγαμία


 * Hungarian: ,
 * Indonesian:
 * Irish: polagamas, ilphósadh
 * Japanese: 複婚, ポリガミー
 * Manx: yl-phoosey
 * Polish:, wielożeństwo
 * Portuguese: poligamia
 * Russian: полигамия, многожёнство,  многомужество
 * Scottish Gaelic: iol-phòsadh, ioma-phòsadh, iomnuachadh


 * Dutch:
 * Finnish:


 * Japanese: 多婚性
 * Polish:


 * Dutch:


 * Finnish:


 * : polygamie
 * : Polygamie
 * : פּוֹלִיגַמְיָה (polygamia) (1)


 * : ioma-phòsadh
 * : polygamia, mnohoženstvo
 * : polygamia, mnohoženstvo