Ambiamorous (adjective) Being open to either monogamous or non-monogamous relationships.
Author: Chris
Chosen Family
Chosen family, or family of choice, is made up of people that fulfill the roles that family of origin often do. This can include care taking, emotional support, financial support, and sharing time at holidays or other special events.
Further Reading
Comet
Comet (noun) – A regular partner, possibly long-distance, that one connects with infrequently.
Example
We see each other once a year, at the conference. We’ve been doing this for the past 10 years.
Compersion
Compersion (noun) – The state of being happy for another person’s happiness. Often used to describe being happy at seeing one’s romantic partner experiencing happiness with other partners.
Example
Chris and Dotty are romantic partners. Dotty is also romantically involved with Stan. Chris feels compersion when he sees how happy Dotty is with Stan.
Further Reading
Consensual Non-Monogamy
See Ethical Non-Monogamy.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
A relationship style, in which the participants agree to non-monogamy, but do not want to know the details, or perhaps even the existence of, their partner’s other romantic or sexual relationships.
Example
Bill and Ted are married and have a don’t ask don’t tell relationship. Ted doesn’t know that Bill is also dating Rufus. This doesn’t violate their don’t ask don’t tell relationship agreement.
Kitchen Table Poly
A relationship style which emphasizes frequent interactions between metamours. The term describes the idea that all of the people involved in the poly relationships would be comfortable sitting around the kitchen table, like a family.
Monogamy
A relationship style in which a person shares sex and/or romantic love with one other person. Most commonly, monogamy is practiced by couples that are exclusively sharing sex and romantic love with each other. There are relationships in which one partner practices monogamy, while their partner practices some form of non-monogamy.
Nesting Partner
A nesting partner is one that you share living space with. This may or may not include: owning property, sharing finances, or raising children. It is possible to have multiple nesting partners, and multiple nests (homes).
New Relationship Energy
New relationship energy (NRE), is a euphoric emotional state associated with the early phase of a romantic relationship.