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Polyandry (— many, andras — man ) refers to a form of marriage in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time.

Polyandry is prohibited by Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam and it is illegal in most countries, including those that permit polygyny.

Even in cultures where it has been known, it is and has been extremely rare, and then only in particular and limited circumstances.

In those cultures, the husbands were almost always from the same family.

For example, the form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers is known as fraternal polyandry, and it is believed by many anthropologists to be the most frequently encountered form.