"marriage of a woman into a lower class, caste, or tribe," 1940, an anthropologist's word first used in an Indian context, from hypo- "under, beneath" + -gamy "marriage." Related: Hypogamous.
Entries linking to hypogamy
hypo-
word-forming element meaning "under, beneath; less, less than" (in chemistry, indicating a lesser oxidation), from Greek hypo (prep. and adverb) "under, beneath; up from under; toward and under (i.e. into)," from PIE root *upo "under."
-gamy
word-forming element meaning "marriage" in anthropology and "fertilization" in biology, from Greek -gamia, from gamos "marriage" (see gamete).