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”, adjective) 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.
   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     `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. A tale of high adventure.
   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 152:

     Could one have known the past histories of some of the oddly-selected couples who shared everything in common, many a romance might have been written during what, to all outward appearances, was a dull and prosaic time to most lookers-on!

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

   His life was a romance.

10. 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.

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

Quotations

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

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “intimate relationship”): platonic, platonic relationship, platonic love, nonromance, antiromance (with respect to intimacy)

Derived terms

• autumn romance
• bromance
• crimance
• cyberromance
• erom
• family romance
• fauxmance
• gaslight romance
• May-December romance
• May-September romance
• metahistorical romance
• outromance
• paranormal romance
• photo-romance
• romaction
• romanceable
• romance fraud
• romanceful
• Romancelandia
• romanceless
• romancelet
• romancelike
• romance scam
• romance tourism
• romance tourist
• romancey
• romance zone
• romancical
• romancist
• romancy
• romantasy
• romantic
• romantica
• romantopia
• scientific romance
• showmance
• sismance
• sweet savage romance
• thrillmance
• womance

Descendants

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

Translations

intimate relationship, love affair

• Armenian: սիրավեպ (hy) (siravep)
• Belarusian: рама́н m (ramán)
• Bulgarian: любо́вна исто́рия f (ljubóvna istórija)
• Chinese:

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

• Finnish: romanssi (fi)
• 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 (ja) (romansu), 恋 (ja) (こい, koi)
• Korean: 연애(戀愛) (ko) (yeonae), 련애(戀愛) (ko) (ryeonae) (North Korea), 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 (ja) (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 / 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: رُومَانْسِيَّة f (rūmānsiyya)
• Bulgarian: ри́царски рома́н m (rícarski román)
• Catalan: novel·la sentimental f
• 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 (ja) (romansu), 伝奇小説 (でんきしょうせつ, denki shōsetsu), 伝奇 (ja) (でんき, denki)
• Khmer: ប្រលោមលោក (km) (prɑlaom look)
• Latin: fābula (la) f
• Maori: paki whaiāipo
• 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: неби́валица (bg) f (nebívalica)
• Finnish: romanttinen tarina
• Italian: esagerazione fantasiosa f
• Maori: kōrero takuahi

story relating to chivalry

• Bulgarian: ри́царски рома́н m (rícarski román)
• Catalan: romanç (ca) m
• Finnish: ritaritarina, ritariballadi
• Irish: scéal ridireachta m

series of extraordinary events, resembling those narrated in romances

• Catalan: romanço (ca) m

dreamy, imaginative habit of mind

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

music: sentimental ballad

• Arabic: رُومَانْسِيَّة f (rūmānsiyya)
• Belarusian: рама́нс m (ramáns)
• Bulgarian: рома́нс (bg) m (románs)
• Catalan: romança (ca) f
• Chinese:

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

• Finnish: romanssi (fi)
• French: romance (fr) f
• German: Romanze (de) f
• Italian: romanza (it) f
• Japanese: ロマンス (ja) (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.
   • 2015 November 15, Meghan Blythe Adams, “Renegade Sex: Compulsory Sexuality and Charmed Magic Circles in the Mass Effect series”, in Loading… The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association‎^[1], volume 9, number 14, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 May 2018, page 47:

     A female Shepard can romance bisexual Yeoman Kelly Chambers, but doing so does not yield a Paramour achievement or an implied sex scene the way that romancing ‘official’ interests does. Similarly, the player can attempt to romance the Asari Samara or her Ardat-Yakshi daughter Morinth, but the former will refuse and sex with the latter will kill Shepard.

   • 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

Derived terms

• romancing the bone

Anagrams

• Cameron, Canmore, Cremona, Marenco, Menorca

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed 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: romansa

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, “Une belle histoire [A Beautiful Story]”, Pierre Delanoë (lyrics), Michel Fugain (music), 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

• → 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.

Interlingua

Noun

romance (plural romances)

1. novel

Adjective

romance (comparative plus romance, superlative le plus romance)

1. Romance

Italian

Adjective

romance

1. feminine plural of romancio

Anagrams

• Cremona, Marenco, cremano, cronema, moncare

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): /ʁoˈmɐ̃.si/ [hoˈmɐ̃.si]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁoˈmɐ̃.si/ [hoˈmɐ̃.si]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁoˈmɐ̃.si/ [χoˈmɐ̃.si]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁoˈmɐ̃.se/ [hoˈmɐ̃.se]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈmɐ̃.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

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Audio (Philippines):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -anθe (Spain)
• Rhymes: -anse (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: ro‧man‧ce

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 m or f (masculine and feminine 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

Hyponyms

• romance histórico (“historical romance”)

Descendants

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

Noun

romance m (uncountable)

1. Spanish (language)

   Synonyms: castellano, español

Derived terms

• en buen romance

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

romance

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

Further reading

• “romance”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10