Polygamy from late greek, polygamia, state of marriage to many spouses is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. Thomas hylland eriksen very rightly says that marriage isessential for human survival. The final part presents a short conclusion presenting the views of the writers on the issue. Below is an alphabetized combined index for the bound and unbound documents collections. It is through cultural practices, beliefs and also on the individuals choices that people decide to be committed to polygamy lifestyles. The term has also come to mean having more than one husband. Without a marriage recognised by society or law, a relationship created with multiple partners is called polyamory.
Although polygyny is illegal in the united states, it is rather popular. The exwife, for example, can remain an active part of her exhusbands life, as they may be tied together by legally or informally. The bible is a book of true human history, and we observe man, warts and all, within its pages. Polygamy and islam polygamy and islam 5 one point greatly in need of clarification is the fact that in the matter of marrying more than one woman, the initiative does not lie solely with any individual man. Polygyny definition is the state or practice of having more than one wife or female mate at a time. Pdf polygamy remains one of the key topics in various societies. The beginning of your term paper should allow readers to reconstruct your golden threat. Polygamy laws do not apply to aliens who are temporarily visiting the united states, provided that polygamy is lawful in their country of origin. Polygamy is the act of marrying multiple spouses, that means having more than one husband or wife at the same time. Women are important because it is they who procreate children. It is through cultural practices, beliefs and also on the individuals choices that.
I believe that he is pro life, and will be on my and good womans side. Introduction the population of malaysia in the year 2009 was estimated at 28,306. Polygamy remains one of the key topics in various societies. Polygamy, which is defined as the practice of having more than one spouse, is a common, and widespread, socially as well as culturally accepted phenomenon in many african countries 1,2.
All of the brothers have equal sexual access to the wife, and the entire family cares for the children, although the family may. Definition of polygamy written for english language learners from the merriamwebster learners dictionary with audio pronunciations, usage examples, and countnoncount noun labels. The term is the opposite of monogamy which is the more common practice of having. To the contrary, the old testament and rabbinic writings frequently attest to the legality of polygamy. In the united states, it is illegal to be legally married to more than one person at a given time.
The open dictionary of english is a collaborative project, based on open source materials, learnthat resources, and partner apis. Polygamy meaning and example sentences with polygamy. King solomon is said to have had 700 wives and 300 concubines 1. This summary uses the term polygamy to describe the marriage of a man with more than. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. Polygamy is when an individual has more than one spouse, either wife or husband. Polygamy is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. Polygamy definition in the cambridge english dictionary. Carolyn jessop shelved 81 times as polygamy avg rating 3. The practice of polygamy under the scheme of the protocol to the. Tapestry against polygamy, composed of former plural wives, are countered by defenders of polygyny such as the women who wrote harmony of polygamy. Permission is granted to copy, distribute andor modify this document under the terms of the gnu free documentation license, version 1. Among others, polygamy was well known to the ancient hebrews, egyptians, greeks, persians, assyrians, japanese, hindus, russians and germanic peoples. In the end, we could not deny that family is the key organizing concept in the polygamy debates.
A woman with multiple men as sex partners that she is faithful to. Polygamy books showing 150 of 488 escape hardcover by. If a marriage includes multiple husbands and wives, it can be called a group marriage. For the purposes of this paper, all references to polygamy and polygyny are within the cultural context only and are not within the legal definition of polygamy. Polygamy is defined as a form of marriage involving more than one wife or more than one husband. Polygamy is the custom in some societies in which someone can be legally married to more. Muthengi interacts with the literature available, tracing the factors which led to polygamy among the africans, the biblical data on which churches base their theological beliefs, and the various church positions on polygamy, both past and present. All previous revealed religions practiced and condoned. Polygamy is defined as a mating system in which an individual has more than one mate simultaneously that can either be male or female. Over seventy percent of the societies known to anthropologists permit men to marry more than one wife. The existence of a valid marriage entered into by the defendant prior to the second valid marriage is an essential element of the offense in every jurisdiction. A historical background stephanie coontz professor of history and family studies the evergreen state college director of research and public education council on contemporary families the new hbo television show, big love, has led many people to contact the council on contemporary families for background on polygamy. A wide umbrella term that includes many forms of sexual unions, most of which are classified as sin according to biblical standards.
Marriage to more than one wife at the same time polygamy is a practice as old as the history of man, and is allowed in islamic law. Polygamy definition of polygamy by the free dictionary. For instance, polygamy is a term used to describe a situation wherein someone has more than one spouse at the same time. In nyinbian culture, when a woman marries a man, she marries all of his brothers, too. However, polyandry is the technical word for having more than one husband. Polygamy definition, the practice or condition of having more than one spouse, especially wife, at one time. Monogamy definition in the cambridge english dictionary. For more cross cultural examples of multiple marriage or stories about the intrigues. There is always the conditionan inescapable onethat whatever the society, the women should outnumber the men. The nyinba people of nepal practice fraternal polyandry. Polyandry is a form of polygamy in which one woman has multiple husbands. When a man is married to more than one wife at a time, sociologists call this polygyny. We have also seen that, even with their unlimited resources, having several wives was still difficult for david or solomon to manage.
Though popularly polygamy is understood to mean marriage with two or more wives, it properly designates marriage of eithera man or woman with more than one mate. An insect queen actually practices polygamy only one day, while for an alphamale defending his harem is the very essence of both his status and polygamy. Dec 31, 2019 because mormon polygamy was an unusual family form in nineteenthcentury america zoology the state or habit of having more than one sexual mate. The institution of marriage, quite like that of the family, is universal. The term polygamy is used interchangeably with, and most commonly refers to, polygyny where a man marries more than one wife. The next three terms plus polygyny would come under the umbrella of polygamy. On friday, i will have a four year marriage, i just hope god will enlighten my heart with lots of love. Another example of virtual ethnography is anthropologist nicole constables use of the. For instructions and downloading option for indexes to the contents of this website, click here. Polygamy definition and meaning collins english dictionary. The word comes from poly meaning many and gamos meaning marriage.
Polygamy was both forbidden and permitted at different times in the old. In part, polygamys rights and wrongs seeks to demonstrate that this distinction is often not as clearcut as it might seem. While polygamy, polygyny, and polyandry may all refer to similar concepts, polygyny and polyandry are actually more specific descriptions of similar situations. The positive role of polygamy in reducing women sociorelated. The open education sociology dictionary oesd is part of the open access and open education movement and seeks to create an entry level resource for sociology students, educators, and the curious. Further, the primary analytical focus of this volume kept circling back to family and its myriad forms. Top definition is having more than one spouse at a time. Polygamy is simply the accumulation of multiple spouses. Polygamy has been and is the open blazon by the human race of sex vice. The crime of polygamy is deemed to continue until all cohabitation with and claim of marriage to more than one spouse terminate. The doctrine of polygamy page 3in scripture does not condone polygamy or the other sins. Polygamy word polygamy at open dictionary of english by. Polygamy is a more general term that encompasses the practice. In america, you have so much divorceperhaps because adultery was once a capital.
1468 1198 1422 523 1472 503 429 26 1390 1596 1341 556 225 1257 585 1043 75 1298 1422 339 1352 1180 584 1500 813 1384 1040 836 553 847 880 1364 1157 139 395 472 1351 921