Dictionary

ménage à trois en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌmeɪnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ (US)
• /ˌmɛnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ (UK)
• /məˌnɑːʒeɪ ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ (US)
• /məˌnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ (UK)
• /ˌmɛnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ (US)
• (US) audio
• /ˌmeɪnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ (UK)
• /məˌnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ (US)

Etymology

Borrowed from French ménage à trois (literally “household of three”).

Meanings

1. A household or relationship whereby three people live together as lovers.
   • […]if she frowned—and there could be no doubt that she was frowning now—what lay before him, before them? A scamped and mean ménage à trois, existence eked out with the aid of Mrs. Knyvett’s scanty resources, and soured by her laments! 1920, Anthony Hope, Lucinda:
   • I'm not a prude and I wasn't a prude then, but I couldn't see living in a ménage à trois unless the third member were a girl. 2006, Gene Lees, Portrait of Johnny, page 56:
   • For a while, he lived in a ménage à trois with the poet Paul Eluard and his wife, Gala Diakonova (who would later marry Salvador Dali). 2001, Sheila Isenberg, A Hero of Our Own, page 134:
   • Old men frequently marry young girls, but then the portion is high and the ménage à trois common. 1856, Richard F. Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, Könemann, published 2000, page 105:
   • "We are certainly going to be happy—we three—in this innocent ménage à trois," she said. "I don't know what more you two men could ask for—or I, either—or the children or Eileen. 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter 1, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
2. A sexual act or experience involving three people; a threesome.
   • No, the two guys don't go for each other; the triad tried a ménage à trois once but stopped because Chris thought it was icky. 1999 November 15, John Cloud, “Henry & Mary & Janet &…”, in Time:
   • David and Angela and I had a ménage à trois for about five minutes, but then I made her leave because David and I were gonna play. 1996, Cyrinda Foxe, in McNeil & McCain, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, page 134

Forms

Coordinates

ménage à moi (both senses) · ménage à quatre (both senses)

Hypernyms

ménage (both senses)

Relateds

throuple · love triangle · eternal triangle

Synonyms

three-way

Translations (14)

mr मेनाझ आ त्र्वा (Translations) · de Ménage-à-trois (Translations) · ru шве́дская семья́ (Translations) · pl ménage à trois (Translations) · hu (édes) hármas (Translations) · pt sexo a três (Translations) · fi kolmen kimppa (Translations) · es trío (Translations) · nl driehoeksrelatie (Translations) · nl ménage à trois (Translations) · bg мена́ж а троа́ (Translations) · pt ménage à trois (Translations) · fr ménage à trois (Translations) · it sesso a tre (Translations)