h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i´m sorry, but the "gamy" in polygamy ist from the ancient greek word gamos for marriage.anyway it means the same...

Absolutely, I was just about to make the same point. Also, I have never heard of polyamory, which seems like a very uncomfortable portmanteau word (as Lewis Carroll would say) being made up of Greek and Latin parts (some modern words are, e.g. television, but apart from a few exceptions, they are usually invented and then die shortly thereafter).

What you don't refer to is polyandry, which is the more specific word for having multiple husbands. What seems clear from this is that polygamy and polyandry refer to multiple partners within marriage. Polyamory seems, from your definition, to include relationships outside marriage as well.

That's correct. Polyamory is pretty common within the queer community, and fairly unknown outside it. This is true of other things as well, like the word dink, the lambda symbol, and the term "fag hags." Personally, I think it has sticking power -- even though it is a bit bastardized where the etymology is concerned.

Polyandry is used so little that I didn't feel a need to include it. I could have included a number of terms and symbols that are far less common, but you get to a point where there is too much to read and you have begun to confuse people instead of enlighten them. I felt polyandry was safely left out because its usage is going down very rapidly.

Polyamory does indeed include relationships outside of marriage. There is a such a thing, for instance, as a gay polyamorous family. In most countries, these people are by definition unable to marry regardless of how many partners there are. There are also polyamorous families with one or more bisexual members, and this may include marriage to the opposite-gender partner and not the same-gender partner(s) for that person. Some polyamorous families include couples who are legally married cohabiting with one or more other adults, and for some marriage is not a factor at all.

you are right.it became quite common to invent words not looking at the origin.or sometimes not even at the correct meaning of the words.and usually they are not in use very long, if they ever become known...
sometimes i don´t find the use in inventing words.they may sound more"serious,scientific",but very often don´t get the point anyway.
maybe it is easier for us in german.we can put as many nouns togehther as we want, creating new nouns...in german.

Fair enough. I agree that you can swamp people with information and need to judge the material carefully.

You make some good points, m_xx. I find that the English language very rarely follows its own rules where new words are concerned. There has been a constant influx of people from different cultures to both the UK and America, and so words are often cobbled together from the native languages of our new inhabitants. As a result, I guess I take this etymological concern less seriously than you do. But your points are at least as valid as mine.

Thanks for understanding the need for exclusions, manolan. Someone could easily write a whole book that went into detail about all the words and symbols, and where they came from.

in the end this is what a language makes vivid, and keeps itself developing.maybe it´s because english is much closer to latin than german, which makes the creation of new words out of a feeling easier.
you didn´t invent the words, but this conversation shows, that these words are not always interpreted in the same way, which gives place to misunderstandings.
it´s interesting, for these words were created to point out something precisely...and in the end they do not.

anyway it is just philosophical crap, which has nothing to do with the fact, that i enjoyed your article very much.it´s good to define things, not to give way unprecise definitions creating misunderstandings...
..i think i am now where i started