The rule requiring marriage outside one's own kin-group. In Hinduism the gotra is exogamous: because two people of the same gotra claim a common ancestor, they may not marry and must seek a spouse of a different gotra. Clan exogamy is a near-universal human institution.

Where this term appears

• What is a gotra? Essentials →

  The second rule follows from the first, and it is the one that governs marriage: exogamy , the requirement to marry out .

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