polygyny
noun/pəˈlɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.ni/
Etymology From Ancient Greek πολύ (polú, “many”) + γυνή (gunḗ, “woman, wife”). By surface analysis, poly- + -gyny.
1
The state or practice of a man having more than one wife at a time; plurality of wives; marriage between one man and multiple wives.
- We may infer that in most cases where polygyny exists, monogamy co-exists to a greater extent, and in all other cases to a considerable extent.1883, Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Sociology, page 685:
2
The condition of an ant colony that has multiple egg-laying queens.
- Derived terms
- polygynist, polygynous