romance

See also: Romance, românce, and romancé

English

Etymology

From Middle English romauns, roumance, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French romanz, romans (the vernacular language of France, as opposed to Latin), from Medieval Latin rōmānicē, Vulgar Latin rōmānicē (“in the Roman language”, adverb), from Latin rōmānicus (“roman”, adj) from rōmānus (“a Roman”). Doublet of Romansch.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹoʊˈmæns/, /ˈɹoʊˌmæns/, enPR: rō-măns'
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈmæns/, /ˈɹəʊˌmæns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æns, -əʊmæns

Noun

romance (countable and uncountable, plural romances)

1. A story relating to chivalry; a story involving knights, heroes, adventures, quests, etc.
   • 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure‎^[1]:

     `Will you undertake the task? We give you complete freedom, and as a reward you will, we believe, have the credit of presenting to the world the most wonderful history, as distinguished from romance, that its records can show.'

2. An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair.
3. A strong obsession or attachment for something or someone.
4. Idealized love which is pure or beautiful.
5. A mysterious, exciting, or fascinating quality.
6. A story or novel dealing with idealized love.
7. An embellished account of something; an idealized lie.
8. An adventure, or series of extraordinary events, resembling those narrated in romances.

   His life was a romance.

9. A dreamy, imaginative habit of mind; a disposition to ignore what is real.

   She was so full of romance she would forget what she was supposed to be doing.

10. (music) A romanza, or sentimental ballad.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:romance.

Antonyms

• (intimate relationship): platonic, platonic relationship, platonic love, nonromance, antiromance (with respect to intimacy)

Derived terms

• romantic

Descendants

• → Japanese: ロマンス
• → Korean: 로맨스 (romaenseu)

Related terms

• autumn romance

• May-December romance

• May-September romance
• romance tourism

Translations

intimate relationship, love affair

• Armenian: սիրավեպ (hy) (siravep)
• Belarusian: рама́н m (ramán)
• Bulgarian: любовна история f (ljubovna istorija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 戀愛 (zh), 恋爱 (zh) (liàn'ài), 浪漫 (zh) (làngmàn)

• Finnish: romanssi
• French: romance (fr) f, idylle (fr) f
• German: Liebesgeschichte (de) f; (sometimes pejorative) Romanze (de) f
• Greek: ρομάντζο (el) n (romántzo)
• Hungarian: románc (hu)
• Italian: storia d'amore
• Japanese: 恋愛 (ja) (れんあい, ren'ai), ロマンス (romansu), 恋 (ja) (こい, koi)
• Korean: 연애 (ko) (yeonae), 로맨스 (ko) (romaenseu)
• Manx: cooish ghraih f

• Maori: mate kanehe
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: romanse m

  Nynorsk: romanse m

• Polish: romans (pl) m
• Portuguese: romance (pt) m
• Russian: рома́н (ru) m (román)
• Spanish: romance (es) m
• Tagalog: romansa
• Turkish: romans (tr)
• Ukrainian: рома́н m (román)
• Vietnamese: lãng mạn (vi)

strong obsession or attachment

• Finnish: intohimo (fi)

idealized love

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 浪漫的愛情, 浪漫的爱情 (làngmàn de àiqíng), 浪漫 (zh) (làngmàn)

• Finnish: romanttinen rakkaus
• French: romance (fr) f, amour romantique m, idylle (fr) f
• German: große Liebe f; romantische Liebe f; Minne (de) f

• Italian: romanticheria f, idillio (it) m
• Japanese: ロマンチックラブ (romanchikku-rabu), ロマンチックな愛 (ロマンチックなあい, romanchikku na ai), ロマンス (romansu)
• Korean: 로맨스 (ko) (romaenseu)
• Russian: романти́ческая любо́вь f (romantíčeskaja ljubóvʹ), рома́н (ru) m (román)
• Vietnamese: lãng mạn (vi)

mysterious, fascinating quality

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 浪漫 (zh) (làngmàn), 羅曼蒂克 (zh), 罗曼蒂克 (zh) (luómàndìkè)

• Finnish: kiehtova piirre

• Italian: poesia (it) f, atmosfera fantasiosa f
• Polish: romantyka (pl) f
• Russian: рома́нтика (ru) f (romántika)

story or novel dealing with idealized love

• Arabic: رومانسية‎ (rōmansiyya)
• Bulgarian: рицарски роман m (ricarski roman)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 戀愛小說, 恋爱小说 (liàn'ài xiǎoshuō), 愛情小說, 爱情小说 (àiqíng xiǎoshuō)

• Finnish: romanttinen kertomus; rakkausromaani
• French: (song or story) romance (fr) f
• German: Liebesgeschichte (de) f; (sometimes pejorative) Romanze (de) f
• Italian: (d'amore) ^{(please verify)} romanzo (it) m
• Japanese: ロマンス (romansu), 伝奇小説 (でんきしょうせつ, denki shōsetsu), 伝奇 (でんき, denki)

• Khmer: ប្រលោមលោក (km) (bro loam loak)
• Latin: fābula (la) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: romanse m

  Nynorsk: romanse m

• Polish: romans (pl) m
• Russian: (song or story) рома́нс (ru) m (románs), (romanticism) рома́нтика (ru) f (romántika), романти́ческая по́весть f (romantíčeskaja póvestʹ)

embellished account

• Bulgarian: небивалица (bg) f (nebivalica)
• Finnish: romanttinen tarina
• Italian: esagerazione fantasiosa f

• Maori: kōrero takuahi

story relating to chivalry

• Bulgarian: рицарски роман (ricarski roman)
• Catalan: romanç (ca) m

• Finnish: ritaritarina, ritariballadi
• Irish: scéal ridireachta m

series of extraordinary events, resembling those narrated in romances

dreamy, imaginative habit of mind

• Finnish: haaveellisuus (fi), romanttisuus (fi)

music: sentimental ballad

• Arabic: رُومَانْسِيَّة‎ f (rūmānsiyya)
• Belarusian: рама́нс m (ramáns)
• Bulgarian: романс m (romans)
• Catalan: romança (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 浪漫曲 (zh) (làngmànqǔ); 羅曼司 (zh), 罗曼司 (zh) (luómànsī), 浪漫史 (làngmànshǐ)

• Finnish: romanssi
• French: romance (fr) f
• German: Romanze (de) f
• Italian: romanza (it) f

• Japanese: ロマンス (romansu)
• Korean: 로망스 (romangseu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: romanse m

  Nynorsk: romanse m

• Polish: romans (pl) m
• Russian: рома́нс (ru) m (románs)
• Tibetan: འཆར་ཡན་རོལ་དབྱངས ('char yan rol dbyangs)
• Tuvan: романс (romans)
• Ukrainian: рома́нс m (románs)
• Yakut: романс (romans)

Verb

romance (third-person singular simple present romances, present participle romancing, simple past and past participle romanced)

1. (transitive) To woo; to court.
   • 2021 February 5, Nicholas Barber, “The Great Dictator: The film that dared to laugh at Hitler”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     In the ghetto, the gentle Barber romances a defiant washerwoman, Hannah, who is played by Chaplin's wife at the time, Paulette Goddard.

2. (intransitive) To write or tell romantic stories, poetry, letters, etc.
3. (intransitive) To talk extravagantly and imaginatively; to build castles in the air.

Synonyms

• (to woo, court): make love, put the moves on, solicit; see also Thesaurus:woo

Anagrams

• Cameron, Canmore, Cremona, Marenco, Menorca

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from German Romanze, from French romance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌroːˈmɑn.sə/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ro‧man‧ce
• Rhymes: -ɑnsə

Noun

romance f (plural romances or romancen)

1. (literature, music, historical) An emotional popular-historical epic ballad. [from late 18th c.]
2. (literature, music) A sentimental love song or love story.

Derived terms

• romancedichter

Descendants

• → Indonesian: roman

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish romance, itself probably a borrowing from either Old French romanz or Old Occitan romans, meaning a narrative work in the vernacular speech, from Vulgar Latin *romanĭce (“in a Roman manner”), compare Medieval Latin rōmānice, ultimately from Latin rōmānicus. See also roman (“novel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɔ.mɑ̃s/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

Noun

romance f (plural romances)

1. a ballad; a love song
   • 1972, Pierre Delanoë (lyrics), Michel Fugain (music), “Une belle histoire [A Beautiful Story]”, performed by Michel Fugain and the Big Bazar:

     C’est un beau roman, c’est une belle histoire. C’est une romance d’aujourd’hui.

     It's beautiful tale, it's a beautiful story. It's a love song of today.

Descendants

All are borrowed.

• German: Romanze (see there for further descendants)
• Finnish: romanssi
• Irish: rómáns
• Dutch: romance
• Norwegian: romanse
• Polish: romans
• Russian: романс (romans)
• Swedish: romans
• Turkish: romans

Verb

romance

1. inflection of romancer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “romance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Interlingua

Noun

romance (plural romances)

1. novel

Adjective

romance (comparative plus romance, superlative le plus romance)

1. Romance

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Italian

Adjective

romance

1. feminine plural of romancio

Anagrams

• Cremona, Marenco, cremano, cronema, moncare

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Occitan romans, from Medieval Latin, Vulgar Latin rōmānicē (“in a Roman manner”), from Latin rōmānicus (“Roman”, adjective), from rōmānus (“Roman”, noun), from Rōma (“Rome”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁo.ˈmɐ̃.si/
• (South Brazil) IPA^(key): /ho.ˈmɐ̃.se/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁu.ˈmɐ̃.sɨ/
• Hyphenation: ro‧man‧ce

Noun

romance m (plural romances)

1. (literature) novel (work of prose fiction)
2. romance; love affair

   Synonym: caso

Derived terms

• romance de folhetim
• romance de cavalaria

Related terms

• Roma
• romança
• romancear
• romanceiro
• romanche
• romancice
• romancismo
• romancista
• romanço
• romançório
• romano
• romanticidade
• romanticismo
• romântico
• romantismo
• romantizar

 

Adjective

romance m or f (plural romances, not comparable)

1. (linguistics) Romance (of the languages derived from Latin)

   Synonyms: neolatim, romanço, românico

Derived terms

• reto-romance

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /roˈmanθe/, [roˈmãn̟.θe]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /roˈmanse/, [roˈmãn.se]

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Occitan romans, or Old French romanz, from Vulgar Latin *romanĭce, compare Medieval Latin rōmānice, ultimately from Latin rōmānicus < rōmānus. Cognates include Old French romanz, whence the modern French noun roman (“novel”).

Adjective

romance (plural romances)

1. Romance

   Synonym: románico

Derived terms

• lengua romance

Noun

romance m (plural romances)

1. romance, love affair
2. romance (genre)
3. novel

   Synonym: novela

4. Spanish (language)

   Synonyms: castellano, español

Hyponyms

• romance histórico (“historical romance”)

 

Derived terms

• en buen romance

Descendants

• → French: romance (see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

romance

1. inflection of romanzar:
   1. first-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular present subjunctive
   3. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “romance”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014