A ménage à trois (also sometimes known as a trio, threesome, or three-way) is a sexual relationship involving three people. The French phrase literally translates as "household of three". There are a number of possible combinations of sexes and sexual interactions of the sexual partners. Sometimes, the sexual attraction is mainly between one of the three and the other two and less between these other two; this may for example apply in the case of three heterosexuals. As the number of people involved goes beyond three, the terms ménage à quatre and so on can be used.

A ménage à trois should not be confused with a love triangle, which refers to an unsatisfactory romantic relationship involving three people.

Troilism is the name for the paraphilia relating to three-party sex.

As of 2003, there is no country allowing both same-sex marriage and polygamy; therefore, if three people have a marital bond, this consists of two heterosexual marriages: of one person with two persons of the opposite sex.

Famous ménages à trois in movies and television series:

• Design for Living (1933)
  • Actors involved: Gary Cooper, Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins

• American Psycho (2000)
  • Actors involved: Christian Bale, Cara Seymour and Krista Sutton

• Wild Things (1998)
  • Actors involved: Denise Richards, Neve Campbell and Matt Dillon

• Laurel Canyon (2002)
  • Actors involved: Kate Beckinsale, Frances McDormand and Alessandro Nivola

• The L Word (2004)
  • Actors involved: Jennifer Beals, Laurel Holloman and an unknown man

• The movie Threesome (1994) is about a love triangle with two men and a woman, originally heterosexual, but with homosexual feelings also awakening.

Further reading

• Barbara Foster, Michael Foster, Letha Hadady. Three in Love: Ménages à trois from Ancient to Modern Times. ISBN 0595008070

See also

• Polyamory
• Polygamy
• Polyandry
• Bisexuality
• Politics, a novel about a ménage à trois ("the socialist utopia of sex")
• Adultery in literature