Dominant and Submissive: BDSM Roles and Power Exchange
Dominant and submissive describes complementary BDSM roles in which one person takes agreed authority and the other voluntarily yields it.
Dom and Sub: BDSM Roles, Power Exchange, and Relationships
Dom and Sub describes a BDSM dynamic in which one partner takes an agreed authority role and the other voluntarily takes a submissive role.
Sub: BDSM Submission, Roles, Power Exchange, and Identity
Sub is an informal term for a BDSM submissive who voluntarily takes a following, receptive, service-oriented, or authority-yielding role.
Dom: BDSM Dominance, Authority, Roles, and Relationships
Dom is an informal term for a BDSM dominant who takes an agreed authority or leadership role with a submissive partner.