What is the practice of a man having several wives known as?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Polygyny
Option (1) Endogamy — Incorrect. Endogamy is marriage within a unit – a kin group, a caste, or a group living in the same locality. It says whom one may marry, not how many wives a man has.
Option (2) Exogamy — Incorrect. Exogamy is marriage outside the unit, as when daughters were married into families outside the kin.
Option (3) Polygyny — Correct. Polygyny is the practice of a man having several wives.
Option (4) Polyandry — Incorrect. Polyandry is the reverse: a woman having several husbands, as Draupadi had in the Mahabharata.
Note: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| – | 14-05 S2 29-05 S1 | – | 14-06 S2 | – |
NCERT (2026-27): “Types of marriages … Endogamy refers to marriage within a unit – this could be a kin group, caste, or a group living in the same locality. Exogamy refers to marriage outside the unit. Polygyny is the practice of a man having several wives. Polyandry is the practice of a woman having several husbands.” |