romance

1 of 4

noun (1)

ro·​mance rō-ˈman(t)s 

rə-;

ˈrō-ˌman(t)s

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 (such 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

romance

2 of 4

verb

romanced; romancing

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

romance

3 of 4

noun (2)

: a short instrumental piece in ballad style

Romance

4 of 4

adjective

Ro·​mance rō-ˈman(t)s 

rə-;

ˈrō-ˌman(t)s

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

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• affair
• affaire
• amour
• fling
• love
• love affair

Examples of romance in a Sentence

Verb

He was always romancing younger women.

She was romanced by several wealthy young men.

The museum's director spends a lot of time romancing potential donors.

a college athlete who's being romanced by several pro teams

They were romancing about the past.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

After meeting on the set of the upcoming movie adaptation of Wicked, the costars developed a romance offscreen. —Kelsie Gibson, Peoplemag, 27 Sep. 2023

Christos Nikou’s sci-fi romance gets a limited theatrical release Oct. 27 before hitting the streaming platform Nov. 3. —Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Sep. 2023

Taylor Swift showing up for Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday shocked and thrilled the world, but some people may also be confused how this budding romance began. —Doha Madani, NBC News, 25 Sep. 2023

Swift was spotted cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, further fueling rumors of a potential romance between the singer and Chiefs tight end. —Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 24 Sep. 2023

But the romance of projection deserves acknowledgment, too. —Vulture, 23 Sep. 2023

One episode breaks down how the pair has leveraged their influx of followers after their whirlwind romances and transitioned to careers in content creation. —Rachel Ventresca, Fortune, 21 Sep. 2023

So, yes, your son is right on time for romance and connection. —Meghan Leahy, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2023

In January 2023, PEOPLE confirmed that the journalists would be departing from their roles at ABC following an investigation into their romance. —Clare Fisher, Peoplemag, 12 Sep. 2023

Verb

Reports about the new house in LA come as Brady is rumored to be romancing Irina Shayk, a Russian model whose former boyfriends include soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and actor Bradley Cooper. —Mark Shanahan, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Aug. 2023

And he’s not just grown up with the beloved Caribbean genre — which has romanced listeners well beyond the Spanish-speaking world — but, using elements of pop, alternative rock and EDM, the award-winning mix master has indelibly shaped it into an intrepid pop sound. —Suzy Exposito, Los Angeles Times, 13 July 2023

No, Ariana Grande isn’t romancing that cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants who lives in a pineapple under the sea. —Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 21 July 2023

Jünger spent his off hours visiting museums, browsing bookstalls, and romancing a Jewish pediatrician named Sophie Ravoux. —Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023

Like many of Anderson’s protagonists, Gustave is a reprobate of the first order, romancing old ladies for their fortunes and such. —Joe Reid, Vulture, 26 June 2023

Dream Daddy, which was released in 2017 and starred a single father looking to romance other solo dads, featured in a Markiplier video with 6.8 million views, a sign that LGBTQ+ friendly romance games were starting to push into the mainstream. —Mark Hill, Wired, 4 Mar. 2021

But the bombshells have been coming fast and furious since the backdoor pilot — focused on a Housewife’s ex-husband romancing a Sur waitress — and produced, in its early seasons, an almost Shakespearean amount of backstabbing. —Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2023

There aren’t a lot of couples who can publicly romance each other on Instagram without inducing an eye roll, but Paulson and Taylor are the exception. —Emma Specter, Vogue, 10 May 2021

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Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

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

Noun (2)

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

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Verb

1653, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (2)

circa 1854, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing romance

• workplace romance

• workplace romance

Kids Definition

romance

1 of 3 noun

ro·​mance rō-ˈman(t)s 

ˈrō-ˌman(t)s

1

a

: an old tale of knights and noble ladies

b

: an adventure story

c

: a love story

2

: love affair

3

: an attraction or appeal to one's feelings

the romance of the old West

romance

2 of 3 verb

romanced; romancing

1

: to have romantic thoughts or ideas

2

: to carry on a love affair with

Romance

3 of 3 adjective

Ro·​mance rō-ˈman(t)s 

ˈrō-ˌman(t)s

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

Etymology

Noun

Middle English romauns "a story of adventure or legend," from early French romanz "French language, something written in French," from Latin romanice "in a vernacular (as opposed to Latin)," from Latin Romanus "Gallic Romance speaker (as opposed to a Frank)," from Romanus "Roman"

Word Origin

As the Roman Empire spread throughout Europe, the Latin language developed many dialects. In these dialects, the original Latin was changed by the native languages spoken before the conquest. These dialects were called romanz in early French and became the bases of what we call Romance languages today. Even after the fall of Rome, serious writing was done in Latin. But in what is now France, popular verse stories about knights, dragons, ghosts, and battles were written in the local dialect. Soon romanz came to mean one of these stories, and the word was borrowed into Middle English. Since many of the stories were about love affairs, romance came to mean "a love story," and then "a love affair." In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a group of poets, including Shelley, Byron, Keats, and Wordsworth, were labeled Romantic because they wrote poetry about the same kinds of things as were found in the old romances—noble love, courage, and ghostly beings.