romance

¹ro·mance

noun \rō-ˈman(t)s, rə-; ˈrō-ˌ\

Definition of ROMANCE

1

a (1) : a medieval tale based on legend, chivalric love and adventure, or the supernatural (2) : a prose narrative treating imaginary characters involved in events remote in time or place and usually heroic, adventurous, or mysterious (3) : a love story especially in the form of a novel

b : a class of such literature

2

: something (as an extravagant story or account) that lacks basis in fact

3

: an emotional attraction or aura belonging to an especially heroic era, adventure, or activity

4

: love affair

5

capitalized : the Romance languages

Origin of ROMANCE

Middle English romauns, from Anglo-French romanz French, narrative in French, from Medieval Latin Romanice in a vernacular (as opposed to Latin), from Late Latin Romanus Gallo-Romance speaker (as opposed to a Frank), from Latin, Roman

First Known Use: 14th century

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

²romance

verb

ro·mancedro·manc·ing

Definition of ROMANCE

intransitive verb

1

: to exaggerate or invent detail or incident

2

: to entertain romantic thoughts or ideas

transitive verb

1

: to try to influence or curry favor with especially by lavishing personal attention, gifts, or flattery

2

: to carry on a love affair with

Examples of ROMANCE

1. He was always romancing younger women.
2. She was romanced by several wealthy young men.
3. The museum's director spends a lot of time romancing potential donors.
4. a college athlete who's being romanced by several pro teams
5. They were romancing about the past.

First Known Use of ROMANCE

1655

Rhymes with ROMANCE

advance, barn dance, by chance, clog dance, closed stance, finance, freelance, lap dance, line dance, main chance, New France, round dance, snake dance, square dance, step dance, sun dance, sword dance, tap dance, tea dance, toe dance, war dance

³romance

noun

Definition of ROMANCE

: a short instrumental piece in ballad style

Origin of ROMANCE

German Romanze & French romance, both ultimately from Spanish romance romance, ballad, from Old Occitan & Old French romanz

First Known Use: circa 1854

Ro·mance

adjective \rō-ˈman(t)s, rə-; ˈrō-ˌ\

Definition of ROMANCE

: of, relating to, or being any of the languages developed from Latin (as Italian, French, and Spanish)

First Known Use of ROMANCE

1690

Other Language Terms

cognate, collocation, homonym

Rhymes with ROMANCE

advance, barn dance, by chance, clog dance, closed stance, finance, freelance, lap dance, line dance, main chance, New France, romance, round dance, snake dance, square dance, step dance, sun dance, sword dance, tap dance, tea dance, toe dance, war dance

romance

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Literary form that developed in the aristocratic courts of mid-12th-century France and had its heyday in France and Germany between the mid-12th and mid-13th century in the works of such masters as Chrétien de Troyes and Gottfried von Strassburg. The staple subject matter is chivalric adventure (see chivalry), though love stories and religious allegories are sometimes interwoven. Most romances draw their plots from classical history and legend, Arthurian legend, and the adventures of Charlemagne and his knights. Written in the vernacular, they share a taste for the exotic, the remote, and the miraculous. Lingering echoes of the form can be found in later centuries, as in the Romanticism of the 18th–19th century and today's popular romantic novels.