DATING GLOSSARY

Your guide to ethical non-monogamy, polyamory, and modern dating terminology. Understand the language of open relationships.

Ambiamorous

A person who is genuinely comfortable and fulfilled in both monogamous and non-monogamous relationship structures, without a strong preference for either.

Compersion

The feeling of joy, warmth, or happiness experienced when a partner finds love, happiness, or fulfillment with another person; often described as the opposite of jealousy.

Ethical Non-Monogamy

Ethical non-monogamy (ENM) is an umbrella term for any relationship structure where all people involved openly and consensually engage in romantic or sexual connections with more than one person.

FFM Threesome

An FFM threesome is a sexual encounter involving two women and one man, named for the gender configuration: female, female, male.

Metamour

A partner's other romantic partner; someone you are connected to through a shared partner but with whom you do not share a direct romantic or sexual relationship yourself.

MMF Threesome

An MMF threesome is a sexual encounter involving two men and one woman, named for the gender configuration: male, male, female.

New Relationship Energy

The intense excitement, infatuation, heightened emotion, and euphoria typically experienced at the beginning of a new romantic or sexual relationship, often abbreviated as NRE.

Polyamory

The practice of engaging in multiple romantic relationships simultaneously with the full knowledge and consent of all partners involved.

Throuple

A throuple is a committed romantic relationship between three people, where all partners share mutual emotional bonds and are equally involved with one another.

Unicorn

A unicorn is a single person, most commonly a bisexual woman, who joins an existing couple for a threesome, ongoing arrangement, or polyamorous relationship.

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