ménage

American  

[mey-nahzh, mey-nazh] / meɪˈnɑʒ, meɪˈnaʒ /

Or menage

noun

plural

ménages

1. a domestic establishment; household.

2. housekeeping.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a ménage à trois.

   erotic ménage fiction.

ménage British  

/ menaʒ, meɪˈnɑːʒ /

noun

1. the persons of a household

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Etymology

Origin of ménage

First recorded on 1250–1300; Middle English, from French, ultimately from unattested Vulgar Latin mansiōnāticum; mansion, -age

Example Sentences

Conversations With Friends asks whether it is possible to sustain authentic connections to people in the presence of flawed, overarching structures: capitalism, patriarchy, a devilish ménage à quatre.

From Slate • Aug. 3, 2017

As the magnetic and impulsive Catherine, Moreau is the force at the center of Truffaut’s celebrated New Wave classic and the focal point of its Bohemian ménage a trois tragedy.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2017

Marston lived for most of his adult life in a ménage with three women: his wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston; a librarian named Marjorie Wilkes Huntley; and Olive Byrne, who was Sanger’s niece.

From The New Yorker • May 7, 2015

On reflection, as bizarre as the Macmillan ménage was, its use as an alibi now appears to me to be weak.

From Newsweek • Apr. 15, 2013

It might get noised about that the Pontelliers had met with reverses, and were forced to conduct their ménage on a humbler scale than heretofore.

From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin