romanticism

Etymology

It is formed from English romantic + -ism.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In the sense of the artistic movement it follows French romanticisme, recorded in 1818 in Stendhal and the source of Spanish romanticismo (1832), which itself follows Italian romanticismo (1818).^[2] The OED compares German Romantizismus, used in 1818 in Goethe's diaries of the artistic movement in Italy and now rare, the usual German word being Romantik.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A romantic idea or conception: 1803, in William Taylor's article in the Annual Review.^[2][3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1795–1805.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, a romantic idea, was followed in 1821, in Lady Morgan's Italy, by the name of the Romantic movement in art, literature and music,^[2][4] which Etymonline and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate date to 1823, in a French context.^[3][7] At first it referred to a turn towards medieval forms in reaction against classical ones, an association that Etymonline says now belongs rather to Romanesque; the movement began in Germany and spread to England and France.^[3] From 1824 the word also meant a tendency towards romantic views or a romantic outlook in general,^[2] which Etymonline records by 1840.^[3]

Timeline

• 1803 – a romantic idea or conception.^[2][3]
• 1821 – the Romantic movement in art, literature or music.^[2][4] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate give 1823.^[3][7]
• 1824 – a tendency towards romance or romantic views.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Often Romanticism: the movement in literature, art, music and thought that began in Europe in the late 18th century, stressing imagination, emotion, nature and the individual, in reaction against classicism and neoclassicism.^{[8][4][9][10]}
2. The quality or state of being romantic; romantic attitudes or ideals: His romanticism about rural life faded after one winter on the farm.^[4][8][5]
3. A romantic idea or conception.^[2]

Word family

• romanticist
• antiromanticism
• hyperromanticism
• neoromanticism

Related words

• romantic
• romance
• Romanesque

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press