Glossary
Vee
A relationship form in which one person has two partners who have nothing to do with each other.
What is a vee?
A vee (also V-relationship, after the English letter) is a form of polyamory in which one person, the hinge, has a relationship with two partners who have nothing with each other. Drawn out, it looks like a V: the hinge at the bottom, the two partners at the top corners. Unlike a triad, where everyone is connected to everyone, here two of the three aren’t partners of each other.
| English term | vee |
| Shape | a V: one hinge, two separate arms |
| The hinge | the person who has both relationships |
| The arms | two partners who are each other’s metamour |
| Difference from a triad | in a vee, two of the three aren’t partners |
How a vee works
The shape turns on that one connecting person. The glossary of More Than Two describes a vee as a polyamorous relationship of three people in which one person is romantically or sexually involved with two partners who are not involved with each other. At Non-Monogamy Help it stands as the mirror image of a triad: the same three people, but with one connection fewer. The two arms are each other’s metamour, meaning the partner of their partner, without having anything together themselves.
What a vee is not
“The two at the top are rivals.” They don’t have to be. They share a partner, but whether they’re friends, barely know each other, or only know of each other at a distance, differs per polycule. A vee says something about the shape, not about the mood.
What I see of it myself
In a vee the hinge carries a lot: two relationships, two calendars, two kinds of attention. As a gigolo I sit nowhere at all in that diagram, and for some women that’s exactly what makes it pleasant. A date with me asks nothing of the balance you guard at home. I don’t become an extra arm or a second hinge, just time for you alone. For someone who is the connecting person herself and is used to accounting for everyone, a moment without that math can be a relief.
Related terms
What is a vee?
A vee is a polyamorous relationship in which one person, the hinge, has a relationship with two partners who have nothing with each other. Drawn out, it looks like a V. Unlike in a triad, two of the three aren’t partners of each other but each other’s metamour.
What is the difference between a vee and a triad?
In a triad all three people are connected to each other. In a vee one person, the hinge, has two partners who have nothing with each other. It’s the same group of three, but with one connection fewer.
Learn more
The hinge, and ready for time that's just yours?
I'm Victor, a gigolo for women. I don't become an extra arm in your diagram, just a date that stands on its own. Curious how that works? Ask whatever you'd like to know, with no obligation at all.