inamorata

American  

[in-am-uh-rah-tuh, in-am-] / ɪnˌæm əˈrɑ tə, ˌɪn æm- /

noun

inamoratas plural

1. a woman who loves or is loved; female sweetheart or lover.

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inamorata British  

/ ɪnˌæməˈrɑːtə, ˌɪnæmə- /

noun

1. a woman with whom one is in love; a female lover

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• inamoratas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of inamorata

1645–55; < Italian innamorata (feminine); see inamorato

Explanation

If you want to sound a little old-fashioned, you might refer to your girlfriend as your inamorata. A woman you love in a romantic way is your inamorata, although it's not a very common term these days. It would be a little startling if your friend said, "I'd like to introduce you to my inamorata," though you'd know he meant "the woman I love." The male version of an inamorata is inamorato, which is even more rarely used. Both words come from the Italian innamorare, "to fall in love."

Example Sentences

Della scores with her screenwriter inamorata, Anita, at Anita’s retreat in Palm Springs.

From New York Times • Mar. 27, 2023

Consider what you will do if you decide to leave your partner and your inamorata doesn’t leave theirs.

From Slate • Oct. 28, 2019

“Children of a Lesser God,” in which a teacher at a school for the deaf trains his inamorata to speak, made a brief return to Broadway, with a mixed-race cast.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 17, 2018

That would be the same crazed, cuckolded Cardenio whom Don Quixote met in Chapter 23 of the novel, then helped reunite with his inamorata a hundred pages later.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2016

I know we used to go fishing together at first, and later I found myself going alone, for Jack was meeting his inamorata, and going for walks.

From Captain Macedoine's Daughter by McFee, William