romance

1
[ noun, adjective roh-mans, roh-mans; verb roh-mans ]
See synonyms for romance on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a novel, movie, or genre of popular fiction in which characters fall in love or begin a romantic relationship (often used attributively): We knew it was a romance, so we were expecting a happy ending. Romance novels are popular escapist entertainment.

  2. a novel or other prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, romantic exploits, etc., usually in a historical or imaginary setting:The famous chivalric romance Ivanhoe is set in medieval England.

  1. the colorful world, life, or conditions depicted in such tales.

  2. a medieval narrative, originally one in verse and in some Romance dialect, treating the subjects of heroic chivalry and fantastic or supernatural events, often in the form of allegory.

  3. a baseless, made-up story, usually full of exaggeration or fanciful invention.

  4. feelings or demonstrations of love or desire, especially idealized love:There was no romance left in their marriage, but the partnership worked in every other regard.

  5. the attractive, partly imagined character or quality of something, as an era, a place, or an activity, that suggests adventure, heroism, excitement, glamour, and distance from the everyday:The romance of crossing an ocean to a new life still clung to the old immigrant steamer trunk.

  6. a romantic affair or experience; a love affair.

  7. Romance. Also Romanic .Also called Romance languages . the group of Italic Indo-European languages descended since a.d. 800 from Latin, as French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Provençal, Catalan, Rhaeto-Romanic, Sardinian, and Ladino. Abbreviations: Rom., Rom

verb (used without object),ro·manced, ro·manc·ing.
  1. to invent or relate romances; indulge in fanciful or extravagant stories or daydreams.

  2. to think or talk romantically.

verb (used with object),ro·manced, ro·manc·ing.
  1. Informal.

    • to court or woo romantically; treat with ardor or chivalrousness: He's currently romancing a very attractive widow.

    • to court the favor of or make overtures to; play up to: They need to romance the local business community if they expect to do business here.

adjective
  1. Romance. Also Romanic . of, relating to, or noting the group of Italic Indo-European languages descended since a.d. 800 from Latin, as French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Provençal, Catalan, Rhaeto-Romanic, Sardinian, and Ladino: a Romance language.

Origin of romance

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English romaunce, romanz, romanys, from Old French romanz, romans “story, narrative, history in the vernacular (French) language; a Romance language,” from assumed Vulgar Latin Rōmānicē (scrībere) (adverb) “(to write) in the vernacular, in a Romance language” (i.e., as opposed to Latin), derivative of Latin Rōmānicus “in the Roman style or pattern”; see Romanic

Other words for romance

Other words from romance

  • ro·manc·er, noun

Other definitions for romance (2 of 2)

romance2
[ roh-mans ]

noun
  1. Music. a short, simple melody, vocal or instrumental, of tender character.

  2. Spanish Literature. a short epic poem, especially a historical ballad.

Origin of romance

2
First recorded in 1595–1605; from French, from Spanish romance “kind of poem in octosyllabic verse, ballad,” from Old French romanz romance1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use romance in a sentence

  • The Carletons were promptly consigned to the seclusion of the atlas, while the romancers ran for their hats.

    The Story of the Big Front Door | Mary Finley Leonard
  • Like all romancers, she is a little terrified at seeing one of her wildest conceits admitted by the hardheaded world.

    Song of the Lark | Willa Cather
  • It is we who are the true rousers of the people; we, the poets and romancers, who are the source of all legitimate power.

  • Yet his heart was with the romancers and their Oriental or Gothic effects.

    The Raven | Edgar Allan Poe
  • Classical scholars and students of modern literature know how the ass has been treated by poets and romancers.

    Bible Romances | George W. Foote

British Dictionary definitions for romance (1 of 2)

romance

noun(rəˈmæns, ˈrəʊmæns)
  1. a love affair, esp an intense and happy but short-lived affair involving young people

  2. love, esp romantic love idealized for its purity or beauty

  1. a spirit of or inclination for adventure, excitement, or mystery

  2. a mysterious, exciting, sentimental, or nostalgic quality, esp one associated with a place

  3. a narrative in verse or prose, written in a vernacular language in the Middle Ages, dealing with strange and exciting adventures of chivalrous heroes

  4. any similar narrative work dealing with events and characters remote from ordinary life

  5. the literary genre represented by works of these kinds

  6. (in Spanish literature) a short narrative poem, usually an epic or historical ballad

  7. a story, novel, film, etc, dealing with love, usually in an idealized or sentimental way

  8. an extravagant, absurd, or fantastic account or explanation

  9. a lyrical song or short instrumental composition having a simple melody

verb(rəˈmæns)
  1. (intr) to tell, invent, or write extravagant or romantic fictions

  2. (intr) to tell extravagant or improbable lies

  1. (intr) to have romantic thoughts

  2. (intr) (of a couple) to indulge in romantic behaviour

  3. (tr) to be romantically involved with

Origin of romance

1
C13: romauns, from Old French romans, ultimately from Latin Rōmānicus Roman

Derived forms of romance

  • romancer, noun

British Dictionary definitions for Romance (2 of 2)

Romance

/ (rəˈmæns, ˈrəʊmæns) /


adjective
  1. denoting, relating to, or belonging to the languages derived from Latin, including Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Romanian

  2. denoting a word borrowed from a Romance language: there are many Romance words in English

noun
  1. this group of languages; the living languages that belong to the Italic branch of the Indo-European family

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for romance

romance

In traditional literary terms, a narration of the extraordinary exploits of heroes, often in exotic or mysterious settings. Most of the stories of King Arthur (see also Arthur) and his knights are romances.

The term romance has also been used for stories of mysterious adventures, not necessarily of heroes. Like the heroic kind of romance, however, these adventure romances usually are set in distant places. William Shakespeare's play The Tempest is this kind of romance.

Today, a novel concerned mainly with love is often called a romance. Romances are frequently published in paperback series.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.