Polygamized

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Converted into a system in which one person has several spouses at the same time, as when a society or household is restructured
2. Changed so that a marriage or community now allows one partner to be wed to multiple people simultaneously
3. Brought under a practice of plural marriage, where an individual holds more than one spouse concurrently

Etymology: "Polygamized" is the past tense of "polygamize," which means to make polygamy practiced or to bring someone into it. The verb is built from "polygamy," itself taken from Late Latin "polygamia," which traces to Greek "polygamia" (many marriages), and the suffix "-ize," which English borrowed through Middle French "-iser" from Late Latin "-izare" and ultimately from Ancient Greek "-izein." The suffix does most of the work here. Greek "-izein" turned nouns and adjectives into verbs meaning "to make into" or "to treat in the manner of," and English later attached it freely to borrowed roots. "Polygamize" therefore follows the same pattern as verbs like "organize" or "modernize," with a Greek-derived base and a Greek-derived ending joined in English.

Synonyms: polygamised

Antonyms: monogamized