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• romance
  romance

  noun

  a novel, movie, or genre of popular fiction in which characters fall in love or begin a romantic relationship (often used attributively).
• Romance
  Romance

  adjective

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

romance

¹ American  

[roh-mans, roh-mans, roh-mans] / roʊˈmæns, ˈroʊ mæns, roʊˈmæns /

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.

   Synonyms:

   tale, story

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

4. 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.

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

   Synonyms:

   liaison, intrigue, affaire de coeur, affaire d'amour, affair

6. 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.

7. 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.

   Synonyms:

   exoticism, fascination, allure

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

9. Also called Romance languages. Romance. Also 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. Rom., Rom

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verb (used without object)

• romances,
  present (3rd person singular)
• romanced,
  past participle,  past
• romancing
  present participle

1. to invent or relate romances; indulge in fanciful or extravagant stories or daydreams.

2. to think or talk romantically.

verb (used with object)

• romances,
  present (3rd person singular)
• romanced,
  past participle,  past
• romancing
  present participle

1. Informal.

   1. to court or woo romantically; treat with ardor or chivalrousness.

      He's currently romancing a very attractive widow.

   2. 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 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.

romance ² American  

[roh-mans] / roʊˈmæns /

noun

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

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

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romance ¹ British  

noun

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

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

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

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

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

7. the literary genre represented by works of these kinds

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

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

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

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

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verb

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

2. (intr) to tell extravagant or improbable lies

3. (intr) to have romantic thoughts

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

5. (tr) to be romantically involved with

Romance ² British  

/ ˈrəʊmæns, rəˈmæns /

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

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noun

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

romance Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• romancer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• romancing
  present
• romanced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• romance
  simple
• romances
  simple
• have romanced
  perfect
• has romanced
  perfect
• am romancing
  progressive
• are romancing
  progressive
• is romancing
  progressive
• have been romancing
  perfect progressive
• has been romancing
  perfect progressive

Past

• romanced
  simple
• had romanced
  perfect
• was romancing
  progressive
• were romancing
  progressive
• had been romancing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will romance
  simple
• will have romanced
  perfect
• will be romancing
  progressive
• will have been romancing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of romance¹

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

Origin of romance²

First recorded in 1595–1605; from French, from Spanish romance “kind of poem in octosyllabic verse, ballad,” from Old French romanz romance ¹

Explanation

Romance is the relationship between two lovers. Is there a romance blossoming between you and your lab partner, or is the assignment so hard you have to work together constantly? Romance comes from Roman, and first meant a story translated into French from Latin (the common language of old Rome), usually about the amorous adventures of chivalrous knights, which is how romances came to be associated with love stories. Now it's used to mean a love relationship, in a story or not. The Romance languages are those derived from Latin. If you romance a tale, you exaggerate it, and if you romance a person, you're making advances.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

romance Romance romances romanced romancing

His every motive feels ulterior, and his inevitable simmering romance with Lowen resembles a can of worms that could pop open at any moment.

From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026

He adds that, while some may see immortal love as the depths of romance, the idea “always seemed funny to us. What are the down-the-line implications of that?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

And their romance blossomed in the same place their friendship had years earlier.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

The romance eventually faded but the relationship continued until McCarthy’s death in 2023.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

For me, his romance wasn't quite such a positive, since it meant I now had to share my brother with someone else.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

Facing a $160 million deficit, the University of Chicago paused admissions this year into more than a dozen Ph.D. programs, including anthropology, social work, social thought, Middle Eastern studies, Romance languages and visual arts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

They closed out the set with their Grammy-nominated track Starbuster from their fourth album, Romance, with the crowd responding by chanting the lyrics back to them.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

Conservator Margalida Munar, papyrologist Leah Mascia, and Ignasi-Xavier Adiego, professor in the Department of Classical, Romance and Semitic Languages, classical philologist, and director of the Oxyrhynchus project, examined the fragile document.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

Both the Authors Guild and Romance Writers of America mounted legal challenges to Hopkins, arguing that “cocky” could not be associated with a single author.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

As far as Jefferson’s description of Virginia’s allegedly egalitarian conditions were concerned, “No Romance would be more amusing.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

The “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The Mask” and “Bruce Almighty” star also had romances with singer Linda Ronstadt, Oscar winner Renée Zellweger, and actor-model Jenny McCarthy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

A treat for anyone who loves a little wordplay: Can you think of an 11-letter phrase that describes some curries or romances?

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

And while she knows people watch it for the drama and conversations it sparks, she thinks those are just "added extras" and the romances should be at the centre of the show.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

The movie’s sweeping visuals and romantic love story evoked a sentiment similar to 1940s war romances.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026

Her opinions were rarely sought; she had no known romances to feed gossip.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Instead, this scrumptious dinner romanced me in an entirely different way.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2023

The great age of rail lasted until the greater age of the automobile, and the airplane, but even as we abandoned the train for our own wheels, we romanced it in our imaginations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2023

Ms. Setouchi described her “Genji” translation as her “life-project,” but said she initially struggled to connect with the book’s female characters, who were alternately romanced and discarded by the young prince.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2021

But his role as a small-time hood who romanced American ingenue Jean Seberg in Godard's "Breathless" earned him international stardom.

From Reuters ● Sep. 6, 2021

Woolf began coming in regularly, parking his Stetson on the table and pointing Greenberg’s nose in the Racing Form while he romanced her.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Maria believed she was romancing a prince from Dubai, captivated by his flirtatious smile and declarations of affection he showered on her during live video calls.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

Palmer found himself spending time trying to get his expenses cleared through an incompetent bureaucracy, rather than romancing a beautiful girl on a sandy beach.

From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026

When their rapacious cousin Charles appears, hoping to find buried treasure in the house and romancing the “pink and white and golden” Constance, Merricat takes drastic action.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

The downside to modern courtship is that people want to push the fast-forward button from lust to love without romancing each other along the way.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

If she and Grandpa were romancing, it sure would put a crimp in things to have Jealousy Incarnate underfoot.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns