User:Weaseloid/Polygamy


 * Polyamory is any romantic, domestic or sexual relationship involving more than two regular parters.


 * Polygamy is polyamorous marriage (i.e. marriage in which one or more of the partners have multiple wives or husbands), although the term is sometimes used more broadly to mean any polyamorous relationship, regardless of whether it is solemnised by marriage.


 * Polygyny is a form of polygamy or polyamory in which one man has multiple wives or female partners (such as a harem of concubines). This has been the most common form of polyamory throughout history.


 * Polyandry is a much rarer form of polygamy or polyamory in which one woman has multiple husbands or male partners. Many cultures which permit polygyny still forbid polyandry.


 * Bigamy literally means a marriage to two partners (as opposed to polygamy which means an unspecified number). However, bigamy most commonly refers to the crime of entering legal marriages to two or more partners in countries which do not allow this. Most bigamists do not actually have polygamous relationships, since bigamy usually occurs when somebody is estranged from their first wife or husband and remarries without seeking a divorce, or in rarer cases when somebody (stereotypically a truck driver, soldier or sailor) has multiple spouses or families who are unaware of each other's existence. Spontaneous drunken weddings in Las Vegas also account for the odd few cases.


 * Monogamy is marriage or a romantic or sexual relationship with one partner only. Serial monogamy is when this is repeated: staying with one partner until the end of the relationship, then finding another.


 * Adultery (or infidelity, cheating, or various other terms) is a sexual relationship with somebody other than one's spouse or regular partner and without the spouse's or partner consent. This differs from polyamourous relationships such as a "ménage à trois" in which parters are aware of each other without anybody being perceived as "cheating on" anybody.


 * Open marriage or an open relationship is a relationship in which parters don't object to each other having sex outside the relationship or including other people in their sex life. Sometimes open relationships can be polyamorous, but often they are essentially monogamous with a shared understanding that "seeing other people" is OK.  Swinging is similar, though it's more identified with a scene or subculture of meeting up with fellow swingers.