Etymograph

English

monoamory

Monoamory comes from Latin amor ‘love, affection, devotion’, from Proto-Italic *amāō ‘to get hold of’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃emh₃-1‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold, tackle, touch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*amāō1‘to get hold of’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamō1‘to love’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamor2‘love, affection, devotion’
  5. Englishtodaymonoamory2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin amor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English monoamory

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃emh₃-Wiktionary, Latin amor‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold, tackle, touch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*amāōWiktionary, Latin amor‘to get hold of’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamōWiktionary, Latin amor‘to love’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamorWiktionary, English monoamory‘love, affection, devotion’
  5. EnglishtodaymonoamoryWiktionary, English monoamory

The story

Attested since at least 1992, from mono- + Latin amor + -y, possibly modelled on polyamory.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin amō ‘to love’

enemy, enmity, amicable, amity, amenity, inimical, 19 more

through Latin amor ‘love, affection, devotion’

amour, amorous, 6 more

Today it means

noun Practice of engaging in a single romantic/sexual relationship at a time, sometimes without an expectation of mutuality, usually outside and without the expectation of marriage.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “monoamory”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin amor. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃- / monoamory

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