Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Relating to, characterized by, or practicing polygamy.
- adjective Botany Having both hermaphroditic and unisexual flowers on the same plant or on separate plants of the same species.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Relating to or characterized by polygamy: as, polygamous marriage (a union including more than one spouse of either sex, sanctioned in respect to plurality of wives by the law of some countries, but not recognized as marriage by the law of Christian states).
- In zoöl mating with more than one individual of the opposite sex; polyandrous or polygynous, especially the latter, which is more frequent among animals than the former.
- In botany, bearing both unisexual and bisexual or hermaphroditic flowers in the same species.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to polygamy; characterized by, or involving, polygamy; having a plurality of wives; ; -- opposed to
monogamous . - adjective (Zoöl.) Pairing with more than one female.
- adjective (Bot.) Belonging to the Polygamia; bearing both hermaphrodite and unisexual flowers on the same plant.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of, relating to, or practicing
polygamy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having several forms of gametoecia on the same plant
- adjective having more than one mate at a time; used of relationships and individuals
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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She argues that this has opened the door for legal reconition of marriage rights in polygamous marriages, possibly to the detriment of the children of those marriages.
Law is Cool Podcast: Polygamy and the Law : Law is Cool 2009
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U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman has resisted that idea, saying that the federal government already is working with the states to investigate crimes in polygamous sects.
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Reid said Wednesday he is taking aim at the “blatant and systematic crime that is rampant” in polygamous groups with legislation that would create a federal task force to combat crimes associated with polygamy.
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Jon Summers, a spokesman for Mr. Reid, said the senator had long been concerned over “rampant” levels of crime in polygamous communities, including the abuse of women and children, financial crimes like welfare fraud and tax evasion, kidnapping and extortion.
Polygamous Sect to Defend 6 Members in Court and Its Practices on Capitol Hill 2008
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A push for federal help prosecuting crimes within polygamous communities has the support of a majority of Utahns, a new poll shows.
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But leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, many of whose followers lived at the ranch, accused the state agency of conducting an overzealous raid simply because the group believes in polygamous marriages.
Child welfare officials say child abuse, neglect common at Texas polygamists’ ranch 2008
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A DWP spokesman claimed that the number of people in polygamous marriages entering Britain had fallen since the 1988 Immigration Act, which "generally prevents a man from bringing a second or subsequent wife with him to this country if another woman is already living as his wife in the UK".
Archive 2008-02-01 Not a sheep 2008
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Because these are what botanists term polygamous flowers, _i. e._, some of them are perfect, containing both stamens and pistils; some are male only; others, again, are female.
Wild Flowers Worth Knowing Neltje Blanchan 1891
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That’s partly why I used “if,” to avoid bringing in polygamous unions at that point.
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Judge: Cops must answer questions in polygamous sect leader’s case
Judge: Cops must answer questions in polygamous sect leader’s case 2008
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