con amore

adverb

con amo·​re ˌkän-ə-ˈmȯr-ē  ˌkōn-ə-ˈmȯr-(ˌ)ā 

1

: with love, devotion, or zest

2

: in a tender manner

—used as a direction in music

Did you know?

No matter what the object is, whether business, pleasures, or the fine arts; whoever pursues them to any purpose must do so con amore. Wise words - and the 18th-century Englishman who wrote them under the pseudonym Sir Thomas Fitzosborne may have been drawing on his own experience. At the time those words were written (around 1740), the author, whose real name was William Melmoth, had recently abandoned the practice of law to pursue his interest in writing and classical scholarship, which were apparently his true loves. In any case, by making use of con amore, a term borrowed from Italian, Melmoth gave us the first known use of the word in English prose.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The pilgrimage was featured in a documentary A Cremona con Amore, directed by Dallas filmmaker Quin Mathews and available on Amazon.com. —Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 6 Jan. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Italian

First Known Use

1739, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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