the whole web of people connected through a set of polyamorous relationships, a polyamory-and-molecule word for the shape the network makes. it might be a tight cluster where everyone knows everyone or a loose chain that never all meets in one room. it's a friendly way to picture the whole, not a group that has to do anything together.
A polycule can be as simple as a vee (one person with two partners who are not connected to each other) or as complex as a web of interconnected people who all know each other and have their own relationships within the network. The word is used informally to describe the whole configuration, and sometimes to describe the feeling of belonging to a shared relational ecosystem.
Polycules vary enormously in how they function socially. Some polycules spend time together regularly, share meals and holidays, and consider themselves something like a family. Others are more parallel, with each relationship existing relatively independently and the connections between members being known but not particularly cultivated. Most fall somewhere between those extremes, with some relationships in the network being warmer and more integrated than others.
Mapping a polycule can be a useful exercise, both practically and emotionally. Practically, it clarifies who is connected to whom and what those connections mean. Emotionally, it can make visible the degree of interdependence in the network. A change in one relationship ripples through the others in ways that may not be immediately obvious until you can see the whole shape.
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definition contributed by Tessakin