polygyny

[ puh-lij-uh-nee ]

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

/ 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

Derived Forms

• poˈlygynist, noun
• poˈlygynous, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of polygyny¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of polygyny¹

C18: from poly- + -gyny, from Greek gunē a woman

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

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

But to the monarchy’s critics — including thousands who have risked arrest and braved police water cannons and tear gas to join Thailand’s greatest pro-democracy protests in years — Sineenat represents something more troubling: the return of polygyny to a royal court they view as regressive and feudal, and a reminder of the unpredictable behavior of the 68-year-old, thrice-divorced King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

From Los Angeles Times

Polygyny has been recorded in related species, such as barn owls and Eurasian eagle owls, but is still very rare among raptors.

From National Geographic

This highly unusual behavior is the first record of polygyny—a male mating with two or more females—in great horned owls, says Christian Artuso, an ornithologist with Bird Studies Canada.

From National Geographic