amorous

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English amorous, also amourous and amerous,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman amorus, also amerus and amoreus,^[4][5] and Old French amoros (modern amoureux),^[4][6][7][8] from Medieval Latin amōrōsus (“devoted to love”),^{[4][9][10][11]} from Latin amor (“love”) and the suffix -ōsus,^[4][12][10] the noun coming from amō (“to love”).^[6][9][10] In Anglo-Norman and Old French the adjective already meant lovable, loving and in love in the 12th century, and the noun a lover.^[4][5] The OED compares Old Occitan amoros, Catalan amoròs, Spanish amoroso, Portuguese amoroso and Italian amoroso, all from the 13th century, and, borrowed from French, Middle Dutch amoreus and German amourös.^[4] Johnson derived the English word from the Italian,^[13] and Weekley thought the Latin noun probably came from baby language.^[14] It is related to amour and amateur.^[10][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

Feeling love for someone; in love: c. 1330, in Guy of Warwick (Auchinleck manuscript).^[4] Barnhart dates the word to about 1303, in Robert Mannyng's Handlyng Synne,^[15][16] a text the MED quotes from a manuscript of before 1400.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the late 14th century Gower used the word for people given to love or flirtation, sometimes in the stronger sense lascivious,^[4][2] and Chaucer for what relates to or shows love.^[4] Chaucer used it 14 times and Gower 9.^[3] The object of love was introduced with on or upon from about 1405, a use rare after the 17th century,^[4] and with of since about 1440, now somewhat archaic.^[4][10] Johnson (1755) gave the sense "in love, enamoured" first and quoted Shakespeare's "Sure, my brother is amorous on Hero".^[13] Two senses have died out: devoted or ardent without any romantic meaning, often of religious devotion (before 1393 to 1856), and lovely, agreeable (before 1425 to 1611).^[4] A noun amorous, a lover, was used from Caxton (before 1492) to 1564.^[4] Today the word usually refers to sexual love or desire.^[4][10]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – in love, feeling love.^[4]
• before 1393 – given to love or flirtation; lascivious; also devout, ardent (now obsolete), both in Gower.^[4][2]
• c. 1405 – of or relating to love, in Chaucer's Knight's Tale; with on for the person loved.^[4]
• before 1425 – lovely, agreeable (obsolete by 1611).^[4]
• c. 1440 – amorous of, in love with.^[4]
• before 1492 – noun, a lover (obsolete by 1564).^[4]
• before 1522 – the amorous, amorous people as a class, in Gavin Douglas.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Strongly moved by love, especially sexual love or desire: He grew amorous after the second bottle.^[10][17][4]
2. In love; enamoured, usually with of: She was amorous of the young sculptor.^[10][17][8]
3. Showing or expressing love: amorous glances.^[10][8]
4. Of or relating to love: an amorous poem.^[10][17][4]

Word family

• amorously
• amorousness
• nonamorous
• unamorous

Related words

• amour
• amateur
• amoroso

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
16. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
17. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins