marriage mating multiple wives and husbands

Question

A marriage in which a man has multiple women is called polygyny. If it has a woman and multiple men(husbands), the form of the marriage is called polyandry. Polygamy is a general term referring a marriage that is not a one-to-one monogamy. Then, is there an English term that refers a marriage in which multiple men mate with multiple women?

ELL · Accepted Answer

Polyamory is a word currently used in US that covers multiple love-making partners. <img src="http://www.EnglishForward.com/emoticons/emotion-54.gif"/>

Hiwarock · Answer

Thanks for the reply, from which I have managed to find a good article on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyamory

Hiwarock · Answer

Polyamory seems to be a 21st century new word in US. Aren't there older and more common, or academic, word(s) that denote the multi:multi marriage form, like those seen among some nativies in remote places?

ELL · Answer

Note that Wikipedia shows traditional use of polygamy to mean either gender with -gyny and -andry for mutliple females or males respectively.Refer: Polygamy (polygyny and polyandry), in which one person marries several spouses (who may or may not be married to, or have romantic relationships with, one another).

Hiwarock · Answer

Thanks. The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy has phrases below:
<quote>
Polygamy exists in three specific forms, including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny (one man having multiple wives), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry (one woman having multiple husbands), or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_marriage (some combination of polygyny and polyandry).
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, or circle marriage, may exist in a number of forms, such as where more than one man and more than one woman form a single http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family unit, and all members of the marriage share http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parent responsibility for any children arising from the marriage.
</quote>
Hmmm. The 'from a single family' part is somehow puzzling ...

Nona the brit · Answer

You've misread it. form not from.

Hiwarock · Answer

nona the britYou've misread it. form not from.

Thanks!!! for pointing my silliness. You saved my life.

marriage mating multiple wives and husbands

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