romance Hear it!

romance Definition

ro·mance (rō mans′, rō′mans′)

noun

  1. a long medieval narrative in verse or prose, orig. written in one of the Romance dialects, about the adventures of knights and other chivalric heroes
  2. a fictitious tale of wonderful and extraordinary events, characterized by a nonrealistic and idealizing use of the imagination
  3. a type of novel in which the emphasis is on love, adventure, etc.
  4. the type of literature comprising such stories
  5. excitement, love, and adventure of the kind found in such literature; romantic quality or spirit
  6. the tendency to derive great pleasure from romantic adventures; romantic sentiment
  7. an exaggeration or fabrication that has no real substance
  8. a love affair
  9. Music a short, lyrical, usually sentimental piece, suggesting a love song

Etymology: ME < OFr romanz < romanz (escrire), (to write) in Roman (i.e., the vernacular, not Latin) < VL Romanice (scribere) < L Romanicus, Roman

intransitive verb -·manced′, -·manc′·ing

  1. to make up false or exaggerated stories
  2. to think or talk about romantic things
  3. Informal to make love; court; woo

transitive verb

  1. to make love to; woo
  2. to seek to gain the favor of, as by flattery; court

romance Related Forms

ro·manc′er noun

Romance Definition

Ro·mance (rō mans′, rō′mans′)

adjective

designating, of, or constituting any of the languages derived from Vulgar Latin, as Italian, Spanish, French, or Romanian

Etymology: < obs. Fr (langue) romance, Romance language < OFr romanz: see romance

noun

these languages as a group

Romance Synonyms

Romance

modif.

Romanic, Latinic, Latin, Italic; see French 2, Italian, Spanish.

Languages descended from Latin include: Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Provençal, Rhaeto-Romanic, Italian, French, Romansh.

romance Synonyms

romance

n.

  1. Experiences that excite the imagination

    fancy, fantasy, the picturesque, adventure, excitement, love, passion, romanticism, idealization, allure, fascination, enchantment, exoticism, glamour, thrill, daring enterprise, bold venture.

  2. A love affair

    affair, courtship, amour; see affair 2, love 1.

  3. A tale of love and adventure

    novel, romantic novel, fiction, love story, historical romance, Gothic novel, bodice-ripper, picaresque tale, adventure story, ballad, lyric tale, metrical romance, Arthurian romance, chanson de geste (French), romaunt; see also story.

romance Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • rekindle: The garden is stylish with plants known for their aphrodisiac qualities, while providing a haven for couples to rekindle romance.
  • blossom: The blossoming romance between them soon causes complications in their married lives.
  • burgeon: By setting up these differences, the burgeoning romance becomes more believable.
  • forbid: Maddy and Drew's forbidden romance in Going the Distance has probably brought me more lovely letters than anything in any other book.
  • capture: Discover the great maritime experience and capture the romance of cruising at sea.
  • throw: There is also quite a bit of death and romance thrown in for good measure.

Adjective modifier

  • Arthurian: It was only to be expected that they would surface from time to time in Arthurian romance.
  • whirlwind: So how do you turn a whirlwind romance into a successful proposal?
  • doomed: Their doomed romance is part of Tintagel's story.
  • chivalric: Nonetheless, Scott did not immediately seek to replicate the success of Ivanhoe with another chivalric romance.
  • budding: I'm also enjoying the budding romance between Harry and Susan.
  • sizzling: It's not enough to just start out with a sizzling romance.

Modifies a noun

  • blossom: But all is not plain sailing when a romance blossoms between Jimmy and his co star Annabel Sweep, the beautiful Prisoner Support officer.
  • novel: Prince of Wolves, her first romance novel, was the result.
  • plot: But there is a great deal more to her writing than romance plots with lively characters and witty dialog.
  • tradition: I admit I am fascinated by her conjunction of political economy and romance traditions.

Noun used with modifier

  • cowboy: The Taiwanese-born director said of his cowboy romance, " This is a universal story.. .
  • prose: The writings of his daughter Lady Mary Wroth include a massive and intricate prose romance and a brilliant sonnet sequence.
  • holiday: Or will she even care, now that she has embarked on a holiday romance?
  • summer: After a whirlwind summer romance Chrissy found herself in the club in Year 10, and gave birth to son Jay the following year.