Promiscuity
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Promiscuity
a term used to designate the stage of totally free relations between the sexes that allegedly preceded the establishment of marriage norms and family forms. There is no direct evidence of promiscuity among any people in antiquity, nor has it been observed in contemporary backward societies.
REFERENCES
Engels, F. “Proiskhozhdenie sem’i, chastnoi sobstvennosti i gosudarstva.” In K. Marks and F. Engels, Soch, 2nd ed., vol. 21, pp. 4041.Semenov, Iu. I. Kak vozniklo chelovechestvo. Moscow, 1966.
Promiscuity
See also Profligacy.
Anatolconstantly flits from one girl to another. [Aust. Drama: Schnitzler Anatol in Benét, 33]
promiscuous goddess of sensual love. [Gk. Myth.: Parrinder, 24]
forever falling in love with young men. [Am. Lit.: The Sun Also Rises]
scantily dressed, sex-loving, blonde astronaut. [Comics: Horn, 96]
“a woman of Paris.” [Fr. Lit.: Camille]
gave herself freely to every man she met; her illegitimate daughter became equally promiscuous. [Am. Lit.: Faulkner The Sound and the Fury in Magill I, 917]
traveling husband not enough to fulfill desires. [Am. Lit.: A Lost Lady]
fairy who makes love with, then abandons, women. [Br. Folklore: Briggs, 183–184]
Hosea’s wanton wife. [O.T.: Hosea 1:1–3]
Theresa Dunn haunts singles bars in a compulsive quest for the ideal lover. [Am. Lit.: Weiss, 267]
wife of Emperor Claudius of Rome. [Rom. Hist.: Brewer Handbook, 701]
though a wanton, Philip loved her above all else. [Br. Lit.: Of Human Bondage; Magill I, 670–672]