poly-

(Greek: many, much; excessive; abnormal amount, profuse, ample, large quantity; multiple, abundant, numerous)

Don’t confuse this poly- with another -poly which means “to sell”.

polygamous
1. A reference to the civil offense of having several wives or husbands at the same time; or having more than two wives or husbands at the same time.
2. Bigamy literally means a second marriage distinguished from a third or additional marriage; while polygamous refers to many marriages and implies more than two.
A man with his polygamous wives.
—Word Info image © ALL rights reserved.

To marry once is a duty, twice a folly, thrice is madness.
—Dutch Proverb
God help the man who won't marry until he finds a perfect woman, and God help him even more if he finds her.
—Benjamin Tillett

Regardless of how they are expressed, all of them represent excesses!

With polygyny and polygynous, we have the marriage of a man to more than two women at the same time. Then we have polygamy and polygamous:

  1. The civil offense of having several wives or husbands at the same time; or having more than two wives or husbands at the same time.
  2. Bigamy literally means a second marriage distinguished from a third or additional marriage; while polygamy means many marriages and implies more than two.

Polygamia est plurium simul virorum uxorumve conubium.

"Polygamy is the marriage with many husbands or wives at one time".

Pointing to a page about polygamy. There are more details about polygamy here.

polygamy
A man with his three wives.

A click on the image will take you to the series of illustrated quizzes which will appear in random order or you may click on this image quiz link.

There are cultures in this world that have polygamy as an acceptable form of life.



Polygamy Sections
Parts 1, 2, and 3 of polygamy are located here.
Polygamy, Part 1 of 3
Get Polygamy, Part 1, for more information.
Polygamy, Part 2 of 3
Get Polygamy, Part 2, for more information.
Polygamy, Part 3 of 3
Get Polygamy, Part 3, for more information.
polygarchy
1. A term sometimes used to denote a government of many or several.
2. A government where the sovereignty is shared by several people.
3. A collegiate, or divided executive.
polygastria
The excessive secretion or flow of gastric juice.
polygenesis
Origin from more than one species, line of ancestors, or sources.
polyglandular, pluriglandular
Pertaining to or affecting many glands.
polyglot (adjective), more polyglot, most polyglot
1. Relating to being capable of reading, writing, or speaking many languages: Growing up in a multilingual home, Mike's polyglot niece speaks and reads German, French, and Spanish.
2. Conveying something that is written in, or composed of, several forms of speech: The polyglot staff-memo presented a variety of native tongues that were understood by the employees; including, Italian, English, and Portuguese.
A reference to someone who speaks or writes in many languages.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Pertaining to anyone who can write in many languages.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more Mickey Bach illustrations.

polygon
A geometrical plane figure with three or more straight sides; a figure of many angles.
polygoneutic
In biology, producing several broods per year or season.
polygoneutism
polygram
A figure or design consisting of many lines.

Related topics utilizing this poly- prefix: Polysemy and Polysemous and Polygamy Sections.

Inter-related cross references, directly or indirectly, involving word units meaning "more, plentiful, fullness, excessive, over flowing": copi-; exuber-; hyper-; multi-; opulen-; ple-; pleio-; plethor-; super-; total-; ultra-; undu-.