monogamy

monogamy
/meuh nog"euh mee/, n.
1. marriage with only one person at a time. Cf. bigamy, polygamy.
2. Zool. the practice of having only one mate.
3. the practice of marrying only once during life. Cf. digamy.
[1605-15; < LL monogamia < Gk monogamía. See MONO-, -GAMY]

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▪ mating behaviour
      the custom that allows a person to be legally married to only one spouse at one time. Appearing in two general forms, monogamy may imply a lifelong contract between two individuals that may be broken only under penalty—as prevails in the Roman Catholic and Hindu prescriptions for marriage—or it may imply that persons are required to be monogamous but may change spouses repeatedly, a practice sometimes called serial monogamy.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • MONOGAMY — MONOGAMY, the custom and social or religious institution, often sanctioned by law, according to which a person can be married to only one single mate at a time. The discussion in this article is restricted to polygamy and monogamy in Jewish… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Monogamy — Mo*nog a*my, n. [L. monogamia, Gr. ?: cf. F. monogamie.] 1. Single marriage; marriage with but one person, husband or wife, at the same time; opposed to {polygamy}. Also, one marriage only during life; opposed to {deuterogamy}. [1913 Webster] 2.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • monogamy — monogamy. См. моногамия. (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.

  • monogamy — n. A law or custom permitting a person to be married to only one spouse. Webster s New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000 …   Law dictionary

  • monogamy — (n.) 1610s, from Fr. monogamie, from L.L. monogamia, from Gk. monogamia, from monogamos marrying only once, from monos single, alone (see MONO (Cf. mono )) + gamos marriage (see GAMETE (Cf. gamete)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • monogamy — ► NOUN ▪ the state of having only one husband, wife, or sexual partner at any one time. DERIVATIVES monogamist noun monogamous adjective. ORIGIN from Greek monos single + gamos marriage …   English terms dictionary

  • monogamy — [mə näg′ə mē] n. [Fr monogamie < LL(Ec) monogamia < Gr: see MONO & GAMY] 1. the practice or state of being married to only one person at a time 2. Rare the practice of marrying only once during life 3. Zool. the practice of having only one… …   English World dictionary

  • Monogamy — For the film, see Monogamy (film). Relationships …   Wikipedia

  • monogamy — [[t]mənɒ̱gəmi[/t]] 1) N UNCOUNT Monogamy is used to refer to the state or custom of having a sexual relationship with only one partner. People still opt for monogamy and marriage. 2) N UNCOUNT Monogamy is the state or custom of being married to… …   English dictionary

  • monogamy — n. to practice monogamy * * * [mə nɒgəmɪ] to practice monogamy …   Combinatory dictionary

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