Etymologically
Log in

romance

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 04:32. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /rəʊˈmæns/, /ˈrəʊ.mæns/, US /roʊˈmæns/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English romaunce, borrowed from Old French romanz (“verse narrative; the vernacular language”) (modern French roman),[2][3][4] originally an adverb “in the vernacular”,[2][3] from Vulgar Latin *rōmānicē scrībere “to write in a Romance language”, one descended from Latin rather than Frankish,[2][3] from Rōmānicus (“of or in the Roman style”), from Rōmānus (see Roman).[2][3][5] The OED notes that the spelling with -aunce, -ance was adopted very early in English, probably on the analogy of abstract nouns.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A story in verse of the adventures of a knight or hero: probably before 1300 in Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.[3][2] The vernacular language of France, as opposed to Latin, is from before 1338, in Mannyng, and about 1330 in the OED.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Medieval tales in the vernacular, unlike Latin texts, typically told chivalric adventures full of marvels, so that the word came to mean any fiction remote from everyday life, and, since love was a frequent subject, a love story.[2][5] A prose fiction of this kind is from 1638,[6] and a love story by the 1660s.[2] Romance was extended to Spanish, Italian and the other languages from Latin in 1612.[3][2] An imaginative, adventurous quality is from 1801,[2][3] and a love affair by 1916, in Shaw's Overruled;[2][3] Word Origins calls the senses of idealized love and a love affair Victorian.[5] The verb meant to recite a romance about 1390, to invent stories from 1671, and to court as a lover from 1938.[3][2] A Spanish historical ballad is from 1605, from Spanish romance,[6] and a short lyrical piece of music from 1783.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – a tale of chivalry.[3][2]
  • c. 1330 – the vernacular of France.[6]
  • 1612 – the Romance languages.[3]
  • 1660s – a love story.[2]
  • 1801 – an adventurous quality.[2][3]
  • 1916 – a love affair.[2][3]
  • 1938 – to court.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A love affair, especially a short, intense one.
  2. Love, or the excitement and mystery associated with it.
  3. A quality of mystery, adventure or excitement.
  4. A story, film or novel about love.
  5. A medieval tale of chivalry and adventure.
  6. (music) A short, lyrical piece.

Adjective

  1. (Romance) Of the languages that developed from Latin, such as French, Spanish and Italian.

Verb

  1. To try to win the love of; to court.
  2. To exaggerate or invent stories.

Word family

  • Roman
  • novel
  • romanticism
  • Romansh

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster