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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

They call their anonymous frontperson “Vessel” and backing band by roman numerals.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2025

The sparks, he said, resembed a "giant roman candle" and went from the plane's nose to its tail.

From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2025

The seamless overlap between real life and fictional counterparts, and the faithful reproduction of such well-established facts, conveys the author’s intention to offer a crystal clear clé to this roman à clef.

From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2024

But Hollywood’s biggest zeitgeist in years was propelled by a pair of movies without a roman numeral, a Jedi or a superhero in sight.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 24, 2023

I hate Morris Sampson because he is a somewhat famous mystery writer who wrote a roman & clef, a novel that is obviously based on true events and real people.

From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson

In the ancient world, plagiarism was viewed quite negatively: The word “plagiarism” actually means “kidnapper” in Latin, and the Roman poet Horace described literary theft like a crow making itself beautiful with stolen feathers.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

Zuckerberg has shown interest in classical history, even naming his daughters after Roman emperors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Researchers in France and Croatia analyzed the protective coating on the Roman Republic shipwreck Ilovik-Paržine 1, which sank about 2,200 years ago off the coast of what is now Croatia.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

Parachute jumps behind enemy lines are "not practical at all" in modern warfare, young officer Roman Kulievych told AFP at the training in central Ukraine.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Centuries later, Periclymenus’s descendants had served in the eastern Roman legions.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

His contemporaries would have been surprised to learn that Romans came to embrace Christianity in the fourth century.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 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

Hiddleston notes that “one great gift of Pompeii is that the Romans didn’t have paper, so the walls, the columns, the houses, the public buildings are covered in writing: deeds, business contracts, advertisements, gossip, doodles.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Cultivated for millennia, Armenia's famed apricots were known to ancient Romans as the "Armenian apple."

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

But if these dead Romans wouldn’t listen to Jason, why should they listen to him?

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

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

The epics of chivalry, whether of the cycles of Charlemagne, Arthur, or the classic heroes, not to mention the miscellaneous romans d’aventures, have indeed more than held their own.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various

Related Words

• classic
• humanistic