Committed relationship

A committed relationship is an interpersonal relationship based upon a mutually agreed-upon commitment to one another involving exclusivity, love, trust, honesty, openness, or some other agreed-upon behavior. Forms of committed relationships are: close friendship, courtship, long-term relationships (LTR), engagement, marriage, and civil unions. The term is most commonly used with informal relationships, such as "going steady," but may encompass any relationship where an expressed commitment is involved.

Terms related to committed relationship include:

• monogamy: having a single long-term sexual partner
• commitment marriage: a non-legal marriage binding two people together with the use of a traditional wedding ring opposed to legal documents
• marriage: a legal and spiritual binding between two people that stretches beyond the boundaries of a committed relationship.
• Female-led relationship: committed relationship where the principle partner is the woman and led by the woman; a matriarchal, female-centric, role-reversed relationship away from the former traditional patriarchal, male-centric relationship
• sexual infidelity: having a sexual relationship outside of a relationship that includes a commitment to have no other sexual partners
• sexual fidelity: not having other sexual partners other than one's committed partner, even temporarily
• serial monogamy: having a series of monogamous relationships, one after the other
• open relationship: a commitment to a partner without excluding other romantic or sexual involvement
• polygamy: having multiple long-term sexual partners
• polyandry: having multiple long-term male sexual partners
• polygyny: having multiple long-term female sexual partners
• polyamory: encompasses a wide range of relationships, including those above: polyamorous relationships may include both committed and casual relationships
• promiscuity: having casual sexual partners at will (compare with chastity)
• relationship anarchy (or relationship activism): having relationships that do not need to be guided by any predetermined rules or norms, but rather can be developed as an agreement between those involved.