monogamy
Exclusive romantic partnership
Monogamy is the practice of having only one spouse or sexual partner at a time.
The term applies both to marriage customs and to mating behavior in animals: Swans are known for their monogamy.
Serial monogamy describes a pattern of successive exclusive relationships rather than lifelong pairing with one person: He practices serial monogamy—always faithful, but never for long.
Legal union of spouses
- wedlockState of being spouses
- spouseMarried partner
- husbandMarried man's role
- wifeFemale marriage partner
partner · conjugal · nuptials · wedding · union · couple · bride · groom
Loyalty or exactness
- faithfulnessDevoted loyalty maintained
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- dedicationWholehearted loyalty to purpose
- loyaltyFaithful commitment to another
constancy · steadfastness · vows · pledge · promise · covenant · allegiance · trustworthiness
Connection or fondness
- partnershipShared business arrangement
- intimacyEmotional closeness between people
- closenessState of proximity
- togethernessState of close connection
companionship · union · love · affection · trust · devotion · relationship · mutuality
Marriage within one's group
- exogamyUnion outside one's clan
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- consanguinityRelatedness through shared ancestry
kin · kinship · hereditary · progeny · clan · family · tribe · offspring
matrimony
Legal union of spouses
wife · partner · conjugal · nuptials · wedding · union · couple · bride · groom · vows
fidelity
Loyalty or exactness
- faithfulnessDevoted loyalty maintained
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- dedicationWholehearted loyalty to purpose
loyalty · constancy · steadfastness · vows · pledge · promise · covenant · allegiance · trustworthiness · reliability
attachment
Connection or fondness
- partnershipShared business arrangement
- intimacyEmotional closeness between people
- closenessState of proximity
togetherness · companionship · union · love · affection · trust · devotion · relationship · mutuality · interdependence
endogamy
Marriage within one's group
consanguinity · kin · kinship · hereditary · progeny · clan · family · tribe · offspring · patrilineal
couple
Two linked together
partners · mates · dyad · twain · match · tandem · mated · coupled · partnered · duet
faithfulness
Devoted loyalty maintained
undivided · sole · one-on-one · unshared · singular · dedicated · reserved · celibacy · abstinence · purity
mating
Reproductive pairing behavior
- lifelongLasting entire existence
- matePartner or companion
- breedingReproductive cultivation of organisms
reproductive · sexual · species · voles · swans · gibbons · albatross · wolves · penguins · biparental
- settling downmarriage, marries, homeownership, buying a house, starting a family
- animal monogamymating pair
- sexual customssexual norms, sexual taboos, marriage customs, courtship, virginity
- mating traitssexual selection, courtship, plumage, antlers, ornamentation
- Sociobiologysociobiology, natural selection, sexual selection, altruism, mating strategies
- relationshipsfriends, romantic, family, friend, flirting
monogamypolygamy
Multiple concurrent spouses
polyamory · polygyny · polyandry · plural marriage · non-monogamy
monogamypromiscuity
Frequent casual sexual encounters
infidelity · sleeping around · casual sex · playing the field · hookup culture
- serial monogamistPerson with successive exclusive relationships
- serial monogamyOne exclusive partner after another
- ethical non-monogamyConsensual romantic multiplicity