How did the term “polyamory” come to be?

In a 2004 video interview Oberon is asked about the origin of the word and begins a reminisce that is quite revealing. The year was 1990. As he recalls it, Morning Glory was in the middle of a favorite and long-running rant about how people in the pagan community who were in non-monogamous relationships just could Not Follow The Rules about conducting multiple relationships successfully.

She happened to be voicing this complaint to her spouse of 16 years, Oberon, and Diane, their spouse of 8 years, who had heard it before, many times. Diane innocently suggested that since the rules were so important, maybe MG should write them up for everyone to see and they would publish them in an issue of the Green Egg, the premiere magazine at that time of the pagan and neo-pagan community. If she did that the rules would be read by thousands.

Morning Glory loved the idea and set right to work, pulling her two spouses into the project for inspiration. Sometime during the process, they came to the realization that there was no single term that everyone agreed on or used to describe what they do, and that the terms in use were awkward or bulky. Oberon, with his love of the Greek language, pointed out that the Greek prefix poly was already in use to describe other non-monogamous relationships. There was polygyny, polygamy, how bout poly- something? The problem was the Greek suffix fidelitus sounded more like a disease than a desirable life choice.

MG solved the problem in great fashion. In a separate interview in 2013 with cable program Destination America, she stated that she really liked the French term amor, and also the Latin amo, amos, amat, so she combined the Greek and Latin together to make polyamory. An enduring term and the primary identifier of a movement was born.

Here, then are The Rules, as delineated by Morning Glory Zell in the fall 1990 issue of the Green Egg.

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