I saw this headline and wondered:

Former glamour model found guilty of bigamy with 5 men.

why not polyandry?

why not polyandry?

I believe that bigamy is a crime in which one person is married to two or more people occurring where polygamy (both polygyny and polyandry) are illegal.

I imagine "bigamy" is the crime for which she was convicted, and probably has a particular legal definition which (obviously) includes tri-, quadri- or any other gamy.

On a tangent, was she a bigamist 4 times, or 10?

According to Barron's Dictionary of Legal Terms, 'bigamy' is defined as 'the criminal offense of having two or more wives or husbands at the same time.'

thank you all. my post was not really serious but i guess my mastery of english is not up to putting across my intent with clearness and subtleness. i had thought that the question seemed pedantic and hair splitting in a way that might have amused the readers of this board.

It did but I didn't have a comeback.

i had thought that the question seemed pedantic and hair splitting in a way that might have amused the readers of this board. Hmm--p'raps we ought to have a tongue-in-cheek emoticon. Or at least one for an eye twinkle.