monogamous

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin monogamus (“a man who marries only once”), recorded from the 3rd century, with the English suffix -ous.^[2][3] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek μονόγαμος (monógamos, “marrying only once”),^[2][4][5] from μόνος (mónos, “alone, single”) and γάμος (gámos, “marriage”).^[5][3][4] The OED compares Middle French monogame (“married only once”), recorded from 1495 but rare before the 19th century, and the earlier polygamous.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of an animal, especially a bird, pairing with only one mate: 1770, in a letter of Gilbert White's in the Natural History of Selborne.^[2] Etymonline also dates the use of animal pairings to 1770, and of humans to 1778.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Like monogamy, whose first sense (1610s) was the practice of marrying only once in a lifetime,^[5] the adjective could mean not remarrying after a spouse's death.^[5] Its main human sense, having only one living spouse at a time, is recorded from 1803, in Malthus, and the general sense "of or relating to monogamy" from 1778.^[2] The OED notes a newer extended use, staying faithful to one sexual partner.^[2] In 19th-century botany it described plants of the Linnaean order Monogamia (1821) and flower heads with florets all of one sex (1857–91), senses now obsolete.^[2]

Timeline

• 1770 – of animals, pairing with only one mate.^[2][5]
• 1778 – of or relating to monogamy.^[2][5]
• 1803 – of people, having only one spouse at a time.^[2]
• 1821 – in botany, of the Linnaean order Monogamia (obsolete).^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having, or allowed to have, only one spouse at a time; practising monogamy: a monogamous society.^[3][6][2]
2. Having only one sexual partner at a time; faithful to one partner.^[2]
3. (zoology) Of an animal, pairing with a single mate for a breeding season or for life.^[2][6]

Word family

• monogamously
• monogamousness
• nonmonogamous

Related words

• monogamy
• bigamous
• polygamous
• gamete
• mono-

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press