polyandrous, a.
(pɒlɪˈændrəs)
[f. Gr. πολύανδρος (see polyandria) + -ous.]
1. Bot. Having numerous stamens; spec. belonging to the class Polyandria.
| 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 259 In this order..there are polyandrous species: a remarkable anomaly in monocotyledons, which rarely exceed the number 6 in their stamens. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 367 Flowers 1-sexual, polyandrous... Sagittaria. |
2. Having more than one, or several, husbands; practising, pertaining to, or involving polyandry. (Corresp. to polygynous 2.)
| 1865 McLennan Prim. Marriage viii. 171 The polyandrous arrangement. 1870 Lubbock Orig. Civiliz iii. (1875) 134 The passage..in Tacitus does not appear to me to justify us in regarding the Germans as having been polyandrous. 1882 Athenæum 22 Apr. 501/3 The existence of the ancient, uncivilized, and polyandrous forms of the family. |
b. Zool. Characterized by polyandry, as a species.
| 1885 C. Trotter in Academy 6 June 395/3 He also records a polyandrous species among the birds. 1904 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 495 Cuckoos are probably polyandrous. |