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

Among all peoples at a certain stage the honor of wife capture has alone been a prolific cause of polygyny.

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