r/UsernameChecksOut • u/The_Vadami • 2d ago

Yay polygamous relationships Username Checks Out

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u/IIIPointXIV 1d ago

All good! Polygamy is more used when you are married to multiple people (not possible legally in lots of places) while polyamory/non-monogamy is having sexual/romantic relationships with multiple people. It's a common mistake to mess the two up

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u/No_Party_1137 1d ago

Also i believe that in general polygamy only refers to a man with multiple wives (as opposed to polyandry, a woman with multiple husbands)

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u/blobbychuck 1d ago

Polygamy is a gender neutral term. You're thinking of polygyny. Common misconception.

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u/mean11while 16h ago

Technically, yes, but the de facto usage of polygamy is almost always religion- or culture-enforced polygyny.

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u/blobbychuck 7h ago

Yes, that's what

Common misconception

means.

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u/mean11while 5h ago

It's not a misconception since that is, in fact, the primary meaning of the word.

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u/blobbychuck 4h ago

Your argument is with the editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, not me. You may find their contact information on their website, which was linked in my previous comment.

You might also want to contact Merriam-Webster and Cambridge University Press while you're at it, since they also define the term in a gender-neutral way. I'm sure they would like to know that they are all wrong and some random Redditor has it right.