Adjacent Words

Romance definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ROMANCE, n. romans', ro'mans.
1. A fabulous relation or story of adventures and incidents, designed for the entertainment of readers; a tale of extraordinary adventures, fictitious and often extravagant, usually a tale of love or war, subjects interesting the sensibilities of the heart, or the passions of wonder and curiosity. Romance differs from the novel, as it treats of great actions and extraordinary adventures; that is, according to the Welch signification, it vaults or soars beyond the limits of fact and real life, and often of probability.
The first romances were a monstrous assemblage of histories, in which truth and fiction were blended without probability; a composition of amorous adventures and the extravagant ideas of chivalry.
2. A fiction.
ROMANCE, v.i. romans', ro'mans. To forge and tell fictitious stories; to deal in extravagant stories.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: relating to languages derived from Latin; "Romance languages" [syn: Romance, Latin] n
1: a relationship between two lovers [syn: love affair, romance]
2: an exciting and mysterious quality (as of a heroic time or adventure) [syn: romanticism, romance]
3: the group of languages derived from Latin [syn: Romance, Romance language, Latinian language]
4: a story dealing with love [syn: love story, romance]
5: a novel dealing with idealized events remote from everyday life v
1: make amorous advances towards; "John is courting Mary" [syn: woo, court, romance, solicit]
2: have a love affair with
3: talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband never flirts with other women" [syn: chat up, flirt, dally, butterfly, coquet, coquette, romance, philander, mash]
4: tell romantic or exaggerated lies; "This author romanced his trip to an exotic country"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1690 of, relating to, or being any of the languages developed from Latin (as Italian, French, and Spanish)

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English romauns, from Anglo-French romanz French, narrative in French, from Medieval Latin Romanice in a vernacular (as opposed to Latin), from Late Latin Romanus Gallo-Romance speaker (as opposed to a Frank), from Latin, Roman Date: 14th century 1. a. (1) a medieval tale based on legend, chivalric love and adventure, or the supernatural (2) a prose narrative treating imaginary characters involved in events remote in time or place and usually heroic, adventurous, or mysterious (3) a love story especially in the form of a novel b. a class of such literature 2. something (as an extravagant story or account) that lacks basis in fact 3. an emotional attraction or aura belonging to an especially heroic era, adventure, or activity 4. love affair 5. capitalized the Romance languages II. verb (romanced; romancing) Date: 1655 intransitive verb 1. to exaggerate or invent detail or incident 2. to entertain romantic thoughts or ideas transitive verb 1. to try to influence or curry favor with especially by lavishing personal attention, gifts, or flattery 2. to carry on a love affair with III. noun Etymology: German Romanze & French romance, both ultimately from Spanish romance romance, ballad, from Old Occitan & Old French romanz Date: circa 1854 a short instrumental piece in ballad style

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., adj., & v. --n. also disp. 1 an atmosphere or tendency characterized by a sense of remoteness from or idealization of everyday life. 2 a a prevailing sense of wonder or mystery surrounding the mutual attraction in a love affair. b sentimental or idealized love. c a love affair. 3 a a literary genre with romantic love or highly imaginative unrealistic episodes forming the central theme. b a work of this genre. 4 a medieval tale, usu. in verse, of some hero of chivalry, of the kind common in the Romance languages. 5 a exaggeration or picturesque falsehood. b an instance of this. 6 (Romance) the languages descended from Latin regarded collectively. 7 Mus. a short informal piece. --adj. (Romance) of any of the languages descended from Latin (French, Italian, Spanish, etc.). --v. 1 intr. exaggerate or distort the truth, esp. fantastically. 2 tr. court, woo. Etymology: ME f. OF romanz, -ans, -ance, ult. f. L Romanicus ROMANIC

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Romance Ro*mance", n. [OE. romance, romant, romaunt, OF. romanz, romans, romant, roman, F. roman, romance, fr. LL. Romanice in the Roman language, in the vulgar tongue, i. e., in the vulgar language which sprang from Latin, the language of the Romans, and hence applied to fictitious compositions written in this vulgar tongue; fr. L. Romanicus Roman, fr. Romanus. See Roman, and cf. Romanic, Romaunt, Romansch, Romanza.] 1. A species of fictitious writing, originally composed in meter in the Romance dialects, and afterward in prose, such as the tales of the court of Arthur, and of Amadis of Gaul; hence, any fictitious and wonderful tale; a sort of novel, especially one which treats of surprising adventures usually befalling a hero or a heroine; a tale of extravagant adventures, of love, and the like. ``Romances that been royal.'' --Chaucer. Upon these three columns -- chivalry, gallantry, and religion -- repose the fictions of the Middle Ages, especially those known as romances. These, such as we now know them, and such as display the characteristics above mentioned, were originally metrical, and chiefly written by nations of the north of France. --Hallam. 2. An adventure, or series of extraordinary events, resembling those narrated in romances; as, his courtship, or his life, was a romance. 3. A dreamy, imaginative habit of mind; a disposition to ignore what is real; as, a girl full of romance. 4. The languages, or rather the several dialects, which were originally forms of popular or vulgar Latin, and have now developed into Italian. Spanish, French, etc. (called the Romanic languages). 5. (Mus.) A short lyric tale set to music; a song or short instrumental piece in ballad style; a romanza.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Romance Ro*mance", a. Of or pertaining to the language or dialects known as Romance.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Romance Ro*mance", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Romanced; p. pr. & vb. n. Romancing.] To write or tell romances; to indulge in extravagant stories. A very brave officer, but apt to romance. --Walpole.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(romances) 1. A romance is a relationship between two people who are in love with each other but who are not married to each other. After a whirlwind romance the couple announced their engagement in July. N-COUNT 2. Romance refers to the actions and feelings of people who are in love, especially behaviour which is very caring or affectionate. He still finds time for romance by cooking candlelit dinners for his girlfriend... 3. You can refer to the pleasure and excitement of doing something new or exciting as romance. We want to recreate the romance and excitement that used to be part of rail journeys. 4. A romance is a novel or film about a love affair. Her taste in fiction was for chunky historical romances. N-COUNT 5. Romance is used to refer to novels about love affairs. Since taking up writing romance in 1967 she has brought out over fifty books. 6. Romance languages are languages such as French, Spanish, and Italian, which come from Latin. (TECHNICAL) ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Novel, tale, story, work of fiction. 2. Falsehood, lie, fiction, fable. 3. Romanza, ballad, song. II. a. Romanic.

Moby Thesaurus

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