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polyandry

Translation
polyandry
/pol"ee an'dree, pol'ee an"-/, n.
1. the practice or condition of having more than one husband at one time. Cf. monandry (def. 1).
2. (among female animals) the habit or system of having two or more mates, either simultaneously or successively.
3. Bot. the state of being polyandrous.
[1770-80; < Gk polyandría. See POLY-, -ANDRY]

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       marriage of a woman to two or more men at the same time; the term derives from the Greek polys, “many,” and anēr, andros, “man.” When the husbands in a polyandrous marriage are brothers or are said to be brothers, the institution is called adelphic, or fraternal, polyandry. polygyny, the marriage of a man and two or more women at the same time, includes an analogous sororal form.

      Polyandrous cultures have devised several methods through which to designate the ancestry of the children of such marriages. In fraternal polyandry, the children are often said to be descended from the eldest brother alone, while in other cases fatherhood is established through a ceremony or the children are said to have descended from all the husbands equally.

      A related form of marital union, sometimes called secondary marriage, obtains when a married woman cohabits with a man other than her husband without having terminated the marriage by annulment or divorce.

      Polyandry must be distinguished from privileged sexual access to a married woman, a practice that was fairly common in traditional cultures and was often associated with customs of kinship, hospitality, or fertility rites. True polyandry is, in fact, a rare phenomenon that is generally considered to be a response to peculiar localized conditions. It is not a survival of an earlier polyandrous stage of civilization, as was contended by the early cultural evolutionists (cultural evolution).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • polyandry — noun полиандрия, многомужие Syn: see polygamy …   Англо-русский словарь Мюллера

  • Polyandry — Pol y*an dry, n. [Poly + Gr. anh r, andro s, man, male: cf. F. polyandrie.] The possession by a woman of more than one husband at the same time; contrasted with {monandry}. [1913 Webster] Note: In law, this falls under the head of polygamy. [1913 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • polyandry — 1> полиандрия, многомужие …   Новый большой англо-русский словарь

  • polyandry — polyandry. См. полиандрия. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • Polyandry — Relationships Types …   Wikipedia

  • polyandry — ˈpɔlɪændrɪ сущ. полиандрия, многомужество, многомужие Syn : polygamy полиандрия, многомужие polyandry полиандрия, многомужие …   Большой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь

  • polyandry — noun Etymology: Greek polyandros, adjective, having many husbands, from poly + andr , anēr man, husband more at andr Date: 1780 the state or practice of having more than one husband or male mate at one time compare polygamy, polygyny •… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • polyandry — a female mating with more than one male …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • polyandry — n. [Gr. polys, many; aner, male] Females that mate with more than one male; polyandrous adj …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology

  • polyandry — сущ. соц., демогр. полиандрия, многомужество (форма группового брака, при которой женщина имеет одновременно несколько мужей, не состоящих в родстве) See: polygyny, polygamy …   Англо-русский экономический словарь