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Relationships
(n.)
A committed shared living arrangement built on friendship rather than romance, often as an intentional response to the rising cost of living.
Their platrimony started as a two-year lease that ultimately outlasted several friends’ marriages.
Does it ring true?
From the future, or already here?
Platonic + matrimony. Matrimony is from Latin mater and patrimony from pater; platrimony adds a third protagonist, the friend. The “lavender marriage” (historically, a cover for a partner’s homosexuality) is reborn as an open pact between friends keen to access the benefits (from hospital visitation, tax breaks, and next-of-kin rights) that are still often only available to married couples.
Future Words: A Non-Obvious Glossary of Terms That Don’t Exist (But Soon Will) collects all 100, each with its example sentence and coinage notes, from the bestselling authors of The Future Normal. Hardcover, October 20, 2026.