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Polygamy

The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922

The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

The act or state of a person who, knowing that he has two or more wives, or that she has two or more husbands, marries another. It differs fom "bigamy" (q. v.) Comyn, Dig. "Justices" (S 5); Diet, de Jur.; 3 Inst. 88. But "bigamy" is now commonly used even where "polygamy" would be strictly correct.

1 Russ. Crimes, 186, note.

On the other hand, "polygamy" is used where "bigamy" would be strictly correct.

Gen. St. Mass. 1860, p. 817.