romance

/roʊˈmæns/
/rəʊˈmæns/
IPA guide

Other forms: romances; romancing; romanced

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.

Definitions of romance
  1. noun
    a relationship between two lovers
    synonyms: love affair
    see moresee less
    types:
    intrigue
    a clandestine love affair
    type of:
    relationship
    a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection)
  2. noun
    a story dealing with love
    synonyms: love story
    see moresee less
    type of:
    story
    a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events
  3. verb
    make amorous advances towards
    synonyms: court, solicit, woo
    see moresee less
    types:
    chase, chase after
    pursue someone sexually or romantically
    display
    attract attention by displaying some body part or posing; of animals
    type of:
    act, move
    perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
  4. verb
    talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
    synonyms: butterfly, chat up, coquet, coquette, dally, flirt, mash, philander
    see moresee less
    types:
    wanton
    engage in amorous play
    vamp
    act seductively with (someone)
    type of:
    speak, talk
    exchange thoughts; talk with
  5. verb
    have a love affair with
    see moresee less
    type of:
    love
    be enamored or in love with
  6. noun
    a novel dealing with idealized events remote from everyday life
    see moresee less
    types:
    Gothic romance
    a romance that deals with desolate and mysterious and grotesque events
    bodice ripper
    a romantic novel containing scenes in which the heroine is sexually violated
    type of:
    novel
    an extended fictional work in prose; usually in the form of a story
  7. noun
    a medieval narrative about the adventures of a chivalric hero
    see moresee less
    type of:
    literary composition, literary work
    imaginative or creative writing
  8. noun
    an exciting and mysterious quality (as of a heroic time or adventure)
    synonyms: romanticism
    see moresee less
    types:
    stardust
    a dreamy romantic or sentimental quality
    type of:
    quality
    an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone
  9. verb
    tell romantic or exaggerated lies
    “This author romanced his trip to an exotic country”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    lie
    tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive
Pronunciation
US
/roʊˈmæns/
UK
/rəʊˈmæns/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘romance'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family

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