polygyny

From Ancient Greek πολύ (polú, “many”) + γυνή (gunḗ, “woman, wife”). By surface analysis, poly- +‎ -gyny.

• IPA^(key): /pəˈlɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.ni/

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polygyny (countable and uncountable, plural polygynies)

1. The state or practice of having several wives at the same time; plurality of wives; marriage to several wives.

   Antonyms: monogyny; monogamy

   Hypernym: polygamy

   Coordinate terms: oligogyny; bigamy; polyandry, oligandry

   • 1883, Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Sociology, page 685:

     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.

2. The condition of an ant colony that has multiple egg-laying queens.
3. (botany) Synonym of polygamy.

• polygynist
• polygynous