Infidelity
From Free net encyclopedia
In a religious context, infidelity is an absence of faith in the beliefs or teachings of a religion, such that one who lacks such faith is an infidel.
According to recent usages, infidelity or unfaithfulness is a voluntary failure to comply with tacit or explicit sexual (or, less commonly, emotional) mores, such as commitment to monogamy. In polyamorous relationships this commitment is often to the group.
Different couples (or groups)—and even different individuals—may have different ideas of what constitutes infidelity. For example, a person may not want his or her partner flirting with anyone else, may accept that but draw the line at petting, may be comfortable with their partner having only oral sex, or may allow them sexual intercourse with others, or something in between; additionally, a person who identifies as heterosexual may accept his or her partner engaging in homosexual but not heterosexual acts with others, or vice versa.
Infidelity within marriage is often called "adultery."