romance

English Online Dictionary. What means romance‎? What does romance mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English romauns, roumance, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French romanz, romans (the vernacular language of France, as opposed to Latin), from Medieval Latin rōmānicē, Vulgar Latin rōmānicē (“in the Roman language”, adverb), from Latin rōmānicus (“roman”, adj) from rōmānus (“a Roman”). Doublet of Romansch.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹoʊˈmæns/, /ˈɹoʊˌmæns/, enPR: rō-măns'
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈmæns/, /ˈɹəʊˌmæns/
• Rhymes: -æns, -əʊmæns

Noun

romance (countable and uncountable, plural romances)

1. A story relating to chivalry; a story involving knights, heroes, adventures, quests, etc.
2. A tale of high adventure.
3. An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair.
4. A strong obsession or attachment for something or someone.
5. Idealized love which is pure or beautiful.
6. A mysterious, exciting, or fascinating quality.
7. A story or novel dealing with idealized love.
8. An embellished account of something; an idealized lie.
9. An adventure, or series of extraordinary events, resembling those narrated in romances.

10. A dreamy, imaginative habit of mind; a disposition to ignore what is real.

11. (music) A romanza, or sentimental ballad.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:romance.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “intimate relationship”): platonic, platonic relationship, platonic love, nonromance, antiromance (with respect to intimacy)

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Japanese: ロマンス
• → Korean: 로맨스 (romaenseu)

Translations

Verb

romance (third-person singular simple present romances, present participle romancing, simple past and past participle romanced)

1. (transitive) To woo; to court.
2. (intransitive) To write or tell romantic stories, poetry, letters, etc.
3. (intransitive) To talk extravagantly and imaginatively; to build castles in the air.

Synonyms

• (to woo, court): make love, put the moves on, solicit; see also Thesaurus:woo

Derived terms

• romancing the bone

Anagrams

• Cameron, Canmore, Cremona, Marenco, Menorca

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French romance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌroːˈmɑn.sə/
• Hyphenation: ro‧man‧ce
• Rhymes: -ɑnsə

Noun

romance f (plural romances or romancen)

1. (literature, music, historical) an emotional popular-historical epic ballad [from late 18th c.]
2. (literature, music) a sentimental love song or love story

Derived terms

• romancedichter

Descendants

• → Indonesian: romansa

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish romance, itself probably a borrowing from either Old French romanz or Old Occitan romans, meaning a narrative work in the vernacular speech, from Vulgar Latin *romanĭce (“in a Roman manner”), compare Medieval Latin rōmānice, ultimately from Latin rōmānicus. See also roman (“novel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɔ.mɑ̃s/
• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

Noun

romance f (plural romances)

1. a ballad; a love song

Descendants

Verb

romance

1. inflection of romancer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “romance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Interlingua

Noun

romance (plural romances)

1. novel

Adjective

romance (comparative plus romance, superlative le plus romance)

1. Romance

Italian

Adjective

romance

1. feminine plural of romancio

Anagrams

• Cremona, Marenco, cremano, cronema, moncare

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Occitan romans, from Medieval Latin, Vulgar Latin rōmānicē (“in a Roman manner”), from Latin rōmānicus (“Roman”, adjective), from rōmānus (“Roman”, noun), from Rōma (“Rome”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ro‧man‧ce

Noun

romance m (plural romances)

1. (literature) novel (work of prose fiction)
2. romance; love affair

   Synonym: caso

Derived terms

• romance de folhetim
• romance de cavalaria

Related terms

Adjective

romance m or f (plural romances, not comparable)

1. (linguistics) Romance (of the languages derived from Latin)

   Synonyms: neolatim, romanço, românico

Derived terms

• reto-romance

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /roˈmanθe/ [roˈmãn̟.θe]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /roˈmanse/ [roˈmãn.se]
• Rhymes: -anθe
• Rhymes: -anse
• Syllabification: ro‧man‧ce

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Occitan romans, or Old French romanz, from Vulgar Latin *romanĭce, compare Medieval Latin rōmānice, ultimately from Latin rōmānicus < rōmānus. Cognates include Old French romanz, whence the modern French noun roman (“novel”).

Adjective

romance m or f (masculine and feminine plural romances)

1. Romance

   Synonym: románico

Derived terms

Noun

romance m (plural romances)

1. romance, love affair
2. romance (genre)
3. novel

   Synonym: novela

Hyponyms

Descendants

• → French: romance (see there for further descendants)

Noun

romance m (uncountable)

1. Spanish (language)

   Synonyms: castellano, español

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

romance

1. inflection of romanzar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

References

Further reading

• “romance”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10