Polygamy (from Late Latin polygamia, from Greek πολυγαμία, polygamía, “state of marriage to many spouses”) is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at a time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. If both sexes marry multiple spouses simultaneously, it can be called polyamory, group or conjoint marriage. In contrast, monogamy is usually defined as marriage consisting of only two parties. Like “monogamy”, the term “polygamy” is often used in a de facto sense, applied regardless of whether the state recognizes the relationship. In sociology and zoology, researchers use polygamy in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating.
Polygamy exists in three specific forms:
Polygyny: One man with two or more wives Polyandry: One woman with two or more husbands Group Marriage: Three or more adults who are married together as equals
There are also some less well-known combinations; for example fraternal polyandry in Tibet, where brothers share a single wife (although how much sex they have with her individually depends on their own personal arrangements), and sororal polygyny found among certain Muslim tribes in Africa where sisters are shared by all the brothers in the family. None of these however are regarded as true polygamy because they do not involve equal rights for all partners – although group marriages may come closest.
In true polygamy everyone involved has an equal say in decisions about the relationship and there is no hierarchy based on gender; indeed some societies even extend full equality to women when it comes to matters like divorce and inheritance. This type of polygamy has been practised by many cultures throughout history but has been declining since around the 19th century as western influence gradually increased globally. It should not be confused with concurrent marriages which involve bigamous relationships that are not legally recognized (such as when someone gets married without getting divorced first). Concurrent marriages are quite common – especially among celebrities! – but because they lack legal recognition they will not be discussed further here.