polygyny

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

While polygyny - the marriage of a man to several women - is allowed in South Africa, such relationships are usually registered as customary marriages and are not celebrated in church.

From BBC • May 3, 2025

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

A third type of polygyny is a lek system.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

As marriage historian Stephanie Coontz has pointed out, polygyny is less about sex than it is about power.

From Slate • Jan. 30, 2012

The religious sanction of polygyny cannot be looked upon as one of its original causes, but when once established it reacted powerfully to reenforce and maintain the institution.

From Sociology and Modern Social Problems by Ellwood, Charles A. (Charles Abram)