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