polycule
noun
| PAH-lee-kyool
A group of people in a polyamorous relationship
What does polycule mean?
A polycule is a group of three or more people in intimate polyamorous (consensual non-monogamous) relationships with one another. Not all members of a polycule are necessarily romantically or sexually involved. For example, if three people are in a polycule, two may be romantically and sexually involved with a third but just closely emotionally connected to each other.
Examples of polycule
hung out with a polycule for a few days and had beautiful home cooked meals… if they wanted to adopt me i would consider it!
—@judysquirrels, X (formerly Twitter), 22 Oct. 2024
Beyond the various romantic and sexual relationships they maintain, members of a polycule are often quite involved in each other’s everyday lives. They can share child care duties, share housekeeping responsibilities, run errands for one another, and celebrate important milestones together.
—The protagonist of Madison Newbound’s debut novel, “Misrecognition,” returns to her hometown after a breakup with her power-imbalanced polycule.
—The movers come tomorrow. Our little polycule of four says goodbye to two separate homes and hello to one home where we will spend an hour every night trying to agree on a movie to watch.
—
Where does polycule come from?
Polycule is a blend of polyamory and molecule. The word likens the relationships between members of a polycule to the connections between atoms in a molecule. use of the word dates back to at least 2010, and it spread in the late 2010s and early 2020s, especially as polyamory gained prominence in popular media.
The polyamory community has developed its own extensive vocabulary, including specific terms to describe types of polycules and relationships. A polycule composed of three people may be called a triad or throuple (‘three couple’), while one with four participants might be called a quad. Like the shape of the letter, a so-called V polycule comprises three people, two of whom are romantically involved with the third but only platonically with each other. Those two people are called metamours. If one of those two are romantically involved with a different person, all four individuals may form a N polycule, also after the letter. A person with multiple partners may consider one of them primary and the other(s) secondary.
How is polycule used?
Polycule is widely used to refer to a relationship group as well as the network of interrelationships within it. It is also called a constellation and frequently compared to or described as a family. The word is generally distinguished from the term open relationship, which involves consensual intimacy outside of a romantic relationship, but where all parties do not consider themselves to be part of a larger, distinct relationship unit, as members of a polycule do.
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