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Dec 22, 2020
This week’s theme
Words made with combining forms

This week’s words
misocainea
polygyny
audiophile
deontology
silvicolous

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

polygyny

PRONUNCIATION:
(puh-LIH-juh-nee)

MEANING:
noun: The practice of having two or more female partners.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek poly- (many) + -gyny (woman). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gwen- (woman), quean, banshee, zenana, gynecology, and gynophobia (the fear of women). Earliest documented use: 1780.

NOTES:
A counterpart of this term is polyandry, the practice of having two or more male partners. The generic term is polygamy, having two or more partners.

USAGE:
“King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s critics say his naming of a consort represents the return of polygyny to the royal court.”
Shashank Bengali; A Royal Consort’s Charm Offensive; Los Angeles Times; Nov 18, 2020.

See more usage examples of polygyny in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Remember the quiet wonders. The world has more need of them than it has for warriors. And this I will tell you as well: One cannot seek to uphold honor in a being that has none. -Charles de Lint, writer (b. 22 Dec 1951)

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