-gamycomb. form

Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French -gamie (in e.g. bigamie bigamy n.), and its etymon (ii) post-classical Latin -gamia (in e.g. -monogamia monogamy n.) < Hellenistic Greek -γαμία (in e.g. πολυγαμία polygamy n.) < ancient Greek γάμος marriage + -ία -y suffix³. Compare -gamous comb. form and (in sense 2) -gam comb. form.Found in occasional borrowings and adaptations of words from French and Latin from the 14th cent. onwards, e.g. bigamy n. (and compare also octogamy n.), polygamy n., and becoming more frequent in the 17th cent., in e.g. monogamy n., digamy n., trigamy n., deuterogamy n., misogamy n. Occasional new formations within English in sense 1 are found from the mid 19th cent., e.g. pantagamy n. Formations in sense 2 are found from the mid 19th cent., e.g. dichogamy n., heterogamy n., autogamy n., in early use frequently after models in scientific Latin -gamia , German -gamie , or French -gamie . Compare also Cryptogamia n. Combining with first elements ultimately of Greek origin.