Anonymous  +  535532 Wed, 02 Jul 08 03:58 AM 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? Anonymous Marriage

	hiwarock  +  535583 Wed, 02 Jul 08 06:39 AM Thanks for the reply, from which I have managed to find a good article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyamory hiwarock Joined on Wed, Jul 2 2008 Zipangu New Member 04 Articles, Marriage

	hiwarock  +  535661 Wed, 02 Jul 08 11:02 AM 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? hiwarock Marriage

	ELL  +  535918 Wed, 02 Jul 08 05:03 PM 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). ELL Genders, Marriage

	hiwarock  +  536098 Thu, 03 Jul 08 02:09 AM Thanks. The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy has phrases below: <quote> Polygamy exists in three specific forms, including polygyny (one man having multiple wives), polyandry (one woman having multiple husbands), or group marriage (some combination of polygyny and polyandry). -- Group marriage, 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 family unit, and all members of the marriage share parental responsibility for any children arising from the marriage. </quote> Hmmm. The 'from a single family' part is somehow puzzling ...   hiwarock Marriage

	nona the brit  +  536162 Thu, 03 Jul 08 08:16 AM You've misread it. form not from. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.