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What is the best way to translate the western concept of an open marriage? I was thinking "Pluramemo", however some people call themselves by that title but just mean that they are a loving, caring person who likes to have friends, so the term has been watered down.

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The Esperanto Wikipedia article on polyamory uses the literal translation malfermita geedzeco (accordingly partnereco etc.), which I have seen in other places, too. Another, less metaphorical expression I myself prefer, however, is neekskluziva geedzeco "non-exclusive marriage" (also this adjective can be found the article).

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  • Thanks. So if someone were to say "malfermita geedzeco" it would be completely clear that this is referring to sex?
    – Lumo5
    Commented Oct 17, 2017 at 7:49
  • This is where the problems begin. ;-) Many people understand "open marriage" only as open to sex with others, while others, me too, see it also as open to additional relationships. This is why I prefer neekskluziva geedzeco, which has not yet got such a narrow meaning. In fact this is more a notional than a linguistic problem.
    – Cyril Robert Brosch
    Commented Oct 17, 2017 at 8:02
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I haven’t heard of the meaning of pluramemo being diluted and as far as I’m aware most people would assume it has the same meaning as polyamoury, ie, the practice of having more than one intimate relationship at a time.

However, that doesn’t say anything about whether the people are married or not so I don’t think it would be a good translation of open marriage. I would opt for the same suggestion as Cyril Brosch malfermita geedzeco. This however opens up the debate about the annoying problems with the edz- root and whether geedzeco excludes gay marriage.

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  • I’ve made a separate question for debate mentioned. esperanto.stackexchange.com/questions/3491/…
    – Neil Roberts
    Commented Oct 17, 2017 at 19:15
  • Thanks. There was a girl that said she is polyamorous, but that she believes in sexual monogamy and expects the same from her husband. She said that many people in the polyamorous community think the same way. So I figured that the term has been watered down.
    – Lumo5
    Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 7:46

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