Polygyny

Polygyny, marriage in which two or more women share a husband. Sororal polygyny, in which the cowives are sisters, is often the preferred form because sisters are thought to be more mutually supportive and less argumentative than nonsiblings. A typical rule for sororal polygyny is that the eldest girl in a family marries first and that as they come of age her younger sisters join her as cowives; this was a practice in at least...