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• roman
  roman

  noun

  a metrical narrative, especially in medieval French literature.
• Roman
  Roman

  adjective

  of or relating to the ancient or modern city of Rome, or to its inhabitants and their customs and culture.

roman

¹ American  

[raw-mahn] / rɔˈmɑ̃ /

noun

French.

• romans
  plural

1. a metrical narrative, especially in medieval French literature.

2. a novel.

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Roman ² American  

[roh-muhn] / ˈroʊ mən /

adjective

1. of or relating to the ancient or modern city of Rome, or to its inhabitants and their customs and culture.

   Roman restaurants.

2. of or relating to the ancient kingdom, republic, and empire whose capital was the city of Rome.

3. of a kind or character regarded as typical of the ancient Romans.

   Roman virtues.

4. (usually lowercase) designating or pertaining to the upright style of printing types most commonly used in modern books, periodicals, etc., of which the main text of this dictionary is an example.

5. of or relating to the Roman Catholic Church.

6. noting, pertaining to, or resembling the architecture of ancient Rome, especially the public and religious architecture, characterized by the employment of massive brick and concrete construction, with such features as the semicircular arch, the dome, and groin and barrel vaults, by the use in interiors of marble and molded stucco revetments, by the elaboration of the Greek orders as purely decorative motifs for the adornment of façades and interiors, and by an overall effect in which simplicity and grandeur of massing is often combined with much elaboration of detailing.

7. written in or pertaining to Roman numerals.

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noun

• Romans
  plural

1. a native, inhabitant, or citizen of ancient or modern Rome.

2. the dialect of Italian spoken in Rome.

3. (usually lowercase) roman type or lettering.

4. Disparaging. a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

5. Rare. the Latin language.

6. a male given name.

Roman ¹ British  

/ ˈrəʊmən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Rome or its inhabitants in ancient or modern times

2. of or relating to Roman Catholicism or the Roman Catholic Church

3. denoting, relating to, or having the style of architecture used by the ancient Romans, characterized by large-scale masonry domes, barrel vaults, and semicircular arches

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noun

1. a citizen or inhabitant of ancient or modern Rome

2. informal short for Roman Catholic

roman ² British  

/ ˈrəʊmən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or denoting a vertical style of printing type: the usual form of type for most printed matter Compare italic

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noun

1. roman type or print

roman ³ British  

/ rɔmɑ̃ /

noun

1. a metrical narrative in medieval French literature derived from the chansons de geste

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Roman Idioms  

1. see when in Rome do as the Romans do.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anti-Roman
  adjective
• non-Roman
  adjective
• post-Roman
  adjective
• pre-Roman
  adjective
• pro-Roman
  adjective
• pseudo-Roman
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Romans
  plural
• romans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of roman¹

First recorded in 1560–80; from Middle French, French roman; see origin at romance ¹ ( def. )

Origin of Roman²

before 900; < Latin Rōmānus ( see Rome, -an); replacing Middle English Romain < Old French < Latin, as above; replacing Old English Roman ( e ) < Latin, as above

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

roman Roman Romans romans

Titled “Fiesta” in drafts, the novel is a roman à clef through and through, a story that may have been news across the Atlantic but rang clear as a church bell through the Latin Quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Every year, the workshop produces hundreds of smaller “bulls,” with roman candles for horns that are carried on someone’s shoulders through the streets of countless small towns in Mexico, sending kids skittering in delight.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 9, 2024

The find joins more than 6,000 roman coins the British Museum has recorded as being found in Buckinghamshire.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2023

Her third book, “American Wife,” was a darkly shaded roman à clef about a woman very much like First Lady Laura Bush.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2023

Will held the watch in his hand and looked down at the white face, the black roman numerals, and the skinny second hand ticking forward in a steady, jerking beat.

From "Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Roman Abramovich's lawyers said he denies that he evaded tax or concealed his fortune.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

We are Roman Catholic and believe in the sanctity of human life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

The animals reached Spain during the Roman Empire and were later brought to what is now Mexico by Spanish colonists in the 1500s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Tim Schwarz, the CEO of the conservative Roman Catholic-oriented Ave Maria mutual funds, agrees this could be a problem.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

A fortress since Roman times, it was an honored historic site associated with French military glories and national pride.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

The Romans saw meteor showers and eclipses as divine auguries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

"And that's not just writers who continually return to the Greeks and Romans -- the history, the myths, the characters, the events -- that's also readers. These are ripping good yarns."

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

"The Romans were incredibly fond of oysters," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Their story remains because the ancient Greeks — and then the ancient Romans, Romanoi Byzantines, Renaissance Dutch and now, an English director and a Kenyan actress — all decided the story belonged to them.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

The Renaissance was the time when Western Europeans lost their awe of the Ancients and realized that they had as much to contribute to civilization and society as the Greeks and Romans had contributed.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

This record further emphasizes her leap away from autobiography into songs that are either pure fictions or else lyrically symbolic in ways that don’t act as romans à clef.

From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2020

“I’m sad that this is what America demands as entertainment. We’re the romans, cheering for the lions. ‘Are you not entertained?’”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2019

She added that “The Love Machine” was “not exactly a literary work. But in its own little sub-category of popularly written romans à clef, it shines, like a rhinestone in a trash can.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2019

That “lunacy” is evidenced, for example, by Hester’s efforts to make romantic romans à clef out of Murdoch’s books.

From The New Yorker ● May 10, 2016

Magic Elements in the romans d'aventure and the romans bretons, p.

From Four Arthurian Romances by William Wistar Comfort

Related Words

• classic
• humanistic