▪ I. romance, n. and a.
(rəʊˈmæns, ˈrəʊmæns)
Forms: α. 4 romanz, romaunz, 4–6 (8–9) romans(e, 5–6 romauns, romayns; Sc. 5 romanys, 5–6 romanis. β. 4–5 romaunce (4 ra-), 5 romawnce, -ounce, 4– romance.
[In ME., a. OF. romanz, romans (cf. romaunt):—pop. L. *romanice adv. f. L. Rōmānicus: see Romanic. Cf. Cat. romans, Sp. and Pg. romance, Prov. roumanso, It. romanzo, med.L. romancia, -ium. The spelling with -aunce, -ance was very early adopted in English, probably on the analogy of abstract ns. In ME. verse the stress is commonly on the first syllable, except in rimes.
The same pattern of stress is reported in N. Amer. and non-standard British pronunciation; cf. the following: 1921 Mencken Amer. Lang. (rev. ed.) vii. 209 The chief movement in American..would seem to be toward throwing the accent upon the first syllable... I might add..defect, excess, address, magazine, decoy and romance. 1939 N. Monsarrat This is Schoolroom xvii. 385 The dance-band world..has given us a new pronunciation—‘bokay’ for bouquet, ‘rómance’ thus accented. 1966 C. Mackenzie My Life & Times V. 193 The cinema audience wants rómance. We must give them rómance. 1971 J. Fleming Grim Death & Barrow Boys vii. 87 It's the end of ro-mance, is marriage.]
I. 1. The vernacular language of France, as opposed to Latin. In later use also extended to related forms of speech, as Proven{cced}al and Spanish, and now commonly used as a generic or collective name for the whole group of languages descended from Latin.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16701 Frankysche speche ys cald Romaunce, So sey þis clerkes & men of Fraunce. 1338 ― Chron. (1810) 205 Þis þat I haf said it is Pers sawe, Als he in romance laid, þer after gan I drawe. c 1400 Rom. Rose 2170 Til I..undo the signifiaunce Of this dreme into Romaunce. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 4883 Swich a book in Romaunce Was neuer yet y-made in Fraunce. c 1450 Lovelich Grail lii. 1064 It is ful Syker,..that he which In Romawnce this drow Owte, he knew ful lytel Of Seynt Graal. |
| 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. 250 The Italian, French, and Spanish: all which in a barbarous word have been called Romanse, as you would say, Roman. 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 44 In the Prouinciall languages or Romances (as the French and Spanish are called). 1708 Madox Exchequer Pref. Ep. p. xii, With them [Spaniards] Romance is used even at this day to signify the Castilian or genuine language of Spain. 1775 Phil. Trans. LXVI. 146 Authors, who deny that the Teutonic had any share in the composition of the Romance, since the Franks found it already established when they entered Gaul. 1823 Roscoe tr. Sismondi's Lit. Eur. (1846) I. vii. 188 The two languages of the people, the rustic Romance, and the Theotisque, or German. 1838 Guest Hist. Eng. Rhythm I. 316 The Romance of Oc. 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 81/2 The process of corruption of the Latin into Romance [in Spain] was the same as in France and Italy. 1891 Athenæum 18 July 90/1 The tables of approximate synonyms from Saxon, Romance, and Latin. |
| Comb. 1882 E. A. Freeman Lect. Amer. Audiences i. v. 155 Did not the Norman Conquest..bring with it a settlement of strangers, of Romance-speaking strangers, enough to destroy all pretence on the part of the English nation to pure Teutonic descent? 1883 Science II. 115/1 The present Romance-speaking population of Roumania. 1964 Romance-based [see Latin-based s.v. Latin n. 5]. 1964 E. Palmer tr. Martinet's Elem. Gen. Linguistics v. 150 The Romance-speaking clerks of the eighteenth century..used..variously a local Romance language and another language, Latin. |
b. attrib. or as adj. Derived from, or representing, the old Roman tongue; descended from Latin. Also, composed in, using, etc., a vernacular tongue of Latin origin.
Cf. older F.
langue romance,
mod.F.
langues romanes.
| 1420 Durham Wills (Surtees) I. 65 Item lego Matildi filiæ Roberti de Hilton..filiolæ meæ unum romance boke, is callyd ye gospelles. |
| 1756–82 Warton Ess. Pope I. v. 290 The Latin language..was succeeded by what was called the Romance-tongue. 1776 Burney Hist. Music (1789) II. iv. 248 The Normans made it their boast..that they spoke the Romanse language with purity. 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 81/1 That [12th] century was the brilliant age of Romance poetry. 1871 Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue §351 Some substantives which have come to us through the French, from the southern Romance languages, Proven{cced}al or Spanish. |
c. = Romansh.
| 1862 Latham Compar. Philol. 647 Of the Romance proper, the two main dialects are—1. That of the valley of the Rhine. 2. That of the valley of the Inn. Ibid., At the present time the Romance phonesis is largely Slavonic. |
II. 2. A tale in verse, embodying the adventures of some hero of chivalry,
esp. of those of the great cycles of mediæval legend, and belonging both in matter and form to the ages of knighthood; also, in later use, a prose tale of a similar character.
Orig. denoting a composition in the vernacular (French, etc.), as contrasted with works in Latin.
| α 13.. Coer. de L. 7 Fele romanses men make newe Of good knyghtes, strong and trewe. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 446 The romanys now begynnys her Off men that war in gret distress. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3896 Was neuer red in no Romanse of Renke vpon erthe So well louyt with all ledys. c 1475 Partenay 6417 Yf any man demaunde..What me shall call thys Romans souerain, hit name the Romans as of partenay. c 1500 Lancelot 209 One to my wit It war so gret o charg For to translait the romans of that knycht. 1530 Palsgr. 263/2 Romauns, romant. |
| β c 1330 Arth. & Merlin 31 (Kölbing), Now ich ȝou telle þis romaunce: A king hiȝt while sir Costaunce. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 980 He..tok a lyght and fond his contenaunce, As for to loken vp on an old romaunce. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 18640 And thus was Troye dryuen doun.., As in this romaunce men may rede. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 436/2 Romawnce idem quod Ryme. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. [i]x. (Arb.) 97 Stories of old time, as the tale of Sir Topas, the reportes of Beuis of Southampton, Guy of Warwicke, Adam Bell, and Clymme of the Clough and such other old Romances or historicall rimes. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 199 The Grand Rustam.. is also the only celebrated Heros of all their Romances. 1765 Percy Essay in Reliques III. p. x, Proof that the old metrical Romances throw light on our old writers in prose. 1778 Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry iv, The romance of the Squire of Low Degree. 1802 Ritson Anc. Met. Rom. I. p. xxxiv, The first metrical romance..is the famous chanson de Roland. 1844 Halliwell Thornton Rom. p. vi, The original of the English version of Perceval is an Anglo-Norman romance. 1881 Herrtage Charles the Grete (E.E.T.S.) Introd. v, A translation of the French prose romance of Fierabras. |
b. Used without article.
In some cases
perh. collectively or as a plural.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 2 Man yhernes rimes for to here, And romans red on maneres sere, Of Alisaundur [etc.]. a 1310 in Wright Lyric Poetry ix. 34 Heo hath a mury mouht to mele,..Romaunz forte rede. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 437 The king..Red to thaim..Romanys off worthi Ferambrace. a 1400 Emare 215 To þe palys þey ȝede in fere, In romans as we rede. c 1470 Golagros & Gaw. 878 Oft in romanis I reid: Airly sporne, late speid. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) Prol., They y{supt} loue bettir romayns of warres. 1513 Douglas æneis v. Prol. 14 Sum plesance takis in romanis that he redis. |
| β 13.. K. Alis. 9 Off hey dedys men rede romance,..Off Rowelond, and of Olyuer. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2521 As hit is breued in þe best boke of romaunce. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 13304 Iff he be ferd of any chaunce, Lete him sitte & rede romaunce! |
3. A fictitious narrative in prose of which the scene and incidents are very remote from those of ordinary life;
esp. one of the class prevalent in the 16th and 17th centuries, in which the story is often overlaid with long disquisitions and digressions. Also
occas., a long poem of a similar type.
The immediate source of this use was
app. F.
roman.
| 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III.) 30, I make some choice, and runne not after all Spanish Romances with equal passion. 1666 Boyle Occas. Refl., Disc. iii. ii, Those voluminous Romances that are too often the only Books which make up the Libraries of Gallants, and fill the Closets of Ladies. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. i. xiii, I find in the Romance you lent me none of the great Heroes were ever false in love. 1759 Johnson Idler No. 84 ¶2 In romances, when the wide field of possibility lies open to invention, the incidents may easily be made more numerous. 1842 Brande Dict. Sci., etc. s.v., In the seventeenth century Le Sage naturalised the Spanish romance in France. 1895 Arber Greene's Menaphon Introd. xvi, In this Pastoral Romance..there is the least possible Plot. |
b. A romantic novel or narrative.
| 1816 [see historical a. 3]. 1831 Scott Pirate Introd., The very moderate degree of local knowledge..which he has endeavoured to embody in the romance of the Pirate. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis li, He..made woful and savage onslaught on a poem and a romance which came before him for judgment. 1886 Illustr. Lond. News 10 July 26 My addictiveness to the perusal of modern romances. |
c. transf. and
fig. (
perh. partly from 2).
| 1823 Scott Let. in Westm. Gaz. (1905) 22 Nov. 2/1 Abbotsford..is..a sort of romance in architecture. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. 267 In the hands of William of Malmesbury the story becomes a romance. 1883 Cent. Mag. Oct. 823/1 English associations are to us utterly delightful, and London especially a huge romance. 1894 H. Drummond Ascent Man 1 The last romance of Science..is the Story of the Ascent of Man. |
4. A Spanish historical ballad or short poem of a certain form.
From
Sp. romance, whence also F.
romance. Attributive uses, as
romance-book,
romance-verse, etc., are common in works on Spanish literature.
| 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. (1628) 200 The Spaniards calling to this day such Verses as they make in their language, by the name of Romances. 1706 Stevens Sp. Dict., Romancero, one that Composes that sort of Verses, call'd Romances. 1756–82 Warton Ess. Pope I. v. 290 Every piece of poetry was at that time denominated a romance. 1832 Irving Alhambra I. 297 For some time a vague intercourse was kept up by popular songs and romances. 1847 tr. Bouterwek's Hist. Span. Lit. 87 Another publication..appeared in 1604, and contains upwards of a thousand romances and songs. 1893 H. B. Clarke Spanish Lit. 45 The earliest printed romances appear in the Cancionero General of 1511. |
b. Mus. A short vocal or instrumental piece of a simple or informal character.
| [1797 Monthly Mag. III. 306 The term Romance, as used by foreign musicians, is not so familiar with us as to be universally understood.] |
| 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 685/2 The concerto for pianoforte with accompaniment of the orchestra in E may be instanced. Here the adagio takes the form of a romance. 1881 Grove's Dict. Music III. 147 Romance, a term of very vague signification, answering in music to the same term in poetry, where the characteristics are rather those of personal sentiment and expression than of precise form. |
5. That class of literature which consists of romances; romantic fiction.
spec. a love story; that class of literature which consists of love stories.
| 1667 Milton P.L. i. 580 And what resounds In Fable or Romance of Uthers Son. 1762 Hurd Lett. Chivalry & Romance v. 39 The constant mixture..of pagan fable with the fairy tales of Romance. 1798 C. Smith Young Philos. I. 110 A young lady..very deeply read in romance and novels. 1820 Keats Isabella xlix, O for the gentleness of old Romance, The simple plaining of a minstrel's song! a 1854 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. ix. (1878) 273 Scott was to establish his fame as the great writer of historical romance. 1891 H. E. Watts Cervantes 62 The chorus of detractors was swelled by all those..whose taste in romance had been ridiculed. 1936 ‘G. Orwell’ Keep Aspidistra Flying x. 264 When a customer demanded a book of this category or that,..‘Sex’ or ‘Crime’ or ‘Wild West’ or ‘Romance’ (always with the accent on the o), Gordon was ready with expert advice. 1954 [see fantasy, phantasy n. 4 f]. |
| personif. 1647 Cowley Mistr., Innocent Ill iii, Though savage, and rock-hearted those Appear, that weep not ev'n Romances woes. |
| fig. 1800 Wordsw. A narrow Girdle of rough Stones 38 Lady of the Mere, Sole-sitting by the shores of old romance. |
b. Romantic or imaginative character or quality; redolence or suggestion of, association with, the adventurous and chivalrous.
spec. a love affair; idealistic character or quality in a love affair.
| 1801 Moore Morality, In feeling's sweet romance. 1807–8 Irving Salmag. (1824) 163 Oh! my romance of youth is past—Dear airy dreams, too bright to last. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xviii, Charity must have its romance. 1873 W. Black Pr. Thule xxiv. 392 Romance goes out of a man's head when the hair gets grey. 1916 G. B. Shaw Overruled 81, I felt my youth slipping away without ever having had a romance in my life; for marriage is all very well; but it isnt romance. Theres nothing wrong in it, you see. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 280 Chorusgirl's romance. Letters read out for breach of promise. 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path i. 26 He was on a week's leave, and we were married before he went back to his Squadron. What the papers would call a whirlwind wartime romance. 1951 in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 24/2 She loved him with another woman's body..one of the tensest, most passionate romances you have ever experienced. 1960 Times 28 Sept. 15/4 Harry, undaunted by a succession of parties at which he has done nothing whatever, always attends in the hope of finding romance. |
6. An extravagant fiction, invention, or story; a wild or wanton exaggeration; a picturesque falsehood. Also without article (
cf. Roman Catholic n. and a.).
| 1497 in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 46 Recvyed..of Maister Chamb[er]leyne of London for a fyne lost by Robt. Wells for romaunce, ij d. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 241 A drink..not so much regarded for those good properties, as from a Romance that it was invented and brew'd by Gabriel. 1667 Dryden & Dk. Newcastle Sir M. Mar-all ii. ii, This is romance—I'll not believe a word on't. 1686 tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 108 It was but a Romance, tho a pernicious Romance, which the General of the Slaves had compos'd to set those two Lords together by the Ears. 1717 J. Keill Anim. Œcon. Pref. (1738) p. xli, The late Explications of Diseases are only Philosophical Romances. 1789 Belsham Ess. I. vii. 131 Such a view..of human life, appears to me no better than a romance. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 439 This romance rests on no evidence, and..seems hardly to deserve confutation. |
7. Comb. a. Objective and
obj. gen., as
romance-maker,
romance-monger,
romance-writer;
romance-making,
romance-reading,
romance-weaving,
romance-writing;
romance-inspiring,
romance-making,
romance-wards adjs.| c 1300 Havelok 2327 Romanz reding on þe bok. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 436/2 Romawnce makare, melopes. 1713 Addison Guardian No. 139 ¶1 Your romance writers are likewise a set of men whose authority I shall build upon very little in this case. 1824 Campbell Theodoric 53 Conscious of romance-inspiring charms. 1829 Scott Wav. Gen. Pref., A work which formed a sort of essay piece, and gave me hope that I might in time become free of the craft of Romance-writing. 1861 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xi. 153 The favourite theme of praise with all our romance-mongers. 1876 Westm. Rev. XLIX. 361 The novelist proper studies to represent his little world as the great world is; whereas the romance-writer..builds an ideal world. 1887 Contemp. Rev. LI. 172 Really good romance writing is the most difficult art practised by the sons of men. 1890 L. D'Oyle Notches 97 We were none of us..naturally of a romance-making bent of mind. 1904 ‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Weekly 10 Dec. 11/1 There was no romance-reading that night. 1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions 2 Let us hope that now, at last, the romance-weaving will come to an end. 1920 R. Macaulay Potterism vi. iii. 228 He was also leaning romancewards and departing from the realm of pure truth. 1979 N. & Q. Feb. 90/2 Hanning tends to brush aside these technical difficulties of romance-writing. |
b. Similative, as
romance-like adv.; and instrumental, as
romance-empurpled,
romance-like,
romance-hallowed adjs.| 1620–55 I. Jones Stone-Heng (1725) 71 Romance-like hatched out of their own Brains. 1868 M. Collins Sweet Anne Page I. 232 Romance-empurpled Monte Cristo. 1888 Saxby Lads of Lunda 127 The romance-hallowed regions of Robinson Crusoe and Mungo Park. 1971 K. Millett Sexual Politics (1972) i. i. 5 That Ida has dressed herself in a collapsible bathrobe and silk stockings is not only accommodating but almost romance-like. |
8. attrib., as
romance-novel,
romance-literature,
romance thriller; also passing into
adj. with the sense: Having the character or attributes associated with romance; chivalrous; romantic.
| 1653 D. Osborne Lett. (1888) 116 He is resolved to be a most romance squire, and go in quest of some enchanted damsel. 1654 Ibid. 223 Can there be a romancer story than ours would make, if the conclusion prove happy? 1693 Locke in Fox Bourne Locke (1876) II. 243, I wonder, that..men should return again to the romance way of physic. 1820 T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. p. lxxxv, The romance-novel..was a species of literary guilt, left for the invention of our own days. a 1842 Arnold Hist. Rome (1846) II. xxvii. 89 The poetical or romance accounts of these last Gaulish invasions. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 113 An occasional romance gleam through the somewhat prosaic mist of his ordinary day-dreams. 1905 N. Amer. Rev. CLXXX. 5 You have made the American home..beautiful with your..noble romance-literature. 1961 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 Dec. 2/1 The growing success of the romance-thriller, where the basic plot of virgin-marries-older-man is sharpened..by often well-devised and dramatic villainy. 1975 Listener 20 Nov. 685/1 The many competent women writers of ‘romance thrillers’. |
Hence
† roˈmancealist, a writer of romances.
roˈmancean a., pertaining to the period of old romances.
roˈmanceful a., full of romance; romantic.
roˈmanceishness, tendency towards what is romantic.
roˈmanceless a., unromantic.
roˈmancelet, a short romance.
| 1652 Urquhart Jewel Wks. (1834) 256 Le Sieur de Balzak, who, by the quaintest *Romancealists of France,..was..esteemed in eloquence to have surpassed Ciceron. |
| 1804 Southey Lett. (1856) i. 274 Is this only mere fiction; or had they in the *romancean days any ‘second sight’ of the diving bell. |
| 1868 F. E. Paget Lucretia 108 The *romanceful tragedy of the poor bride, Ginevra of Modena. |
| 1835 Beckford Recoll. 53 At length he could bear with my *romanceishness no longer. |
| 1856 Leisure Hour V. 67/2 He had just reached the quay, and—*romanceless as he undoubtedly was—was gazing with some interest on the placid water. |
| 1876 F. Harrison Ess. (1886) 219 Jane Austen would write little *romancelets to her girl correspondents. |
▪ II. romance, v. (
rəʊˈmæns)
Also 4
romauncen.
[f. the n., or ad. F. romancer (OF. romancier to write, etc., in Romance), = Sp. and Pg. romancear, It. romanzare.] † 1. intr. To compose in verse.
Obs.—1| 13.. St. Gregory (Vernon MS.) 19 Nou wol ich ariht biginne Romauncen of þis ilke song. |
2. a. To exaggerate or invent after the fashion of romances; to talk hyperbolically.
| 1671 J. Glanvill Further Disc. Stubbe 6 I'le be bound to believe you, yea even when you Romance about Jamaica. 1707 Norris Treat. Humility vii. 304 How strangely some vain people, when they are upon this bragging strain, will romance upon themselves and their families. 1764 Smollett Trav. (1766) I. 264, I am apt to believe the fellow romanced a little, in order to render the adventure the more marvellous. 1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia I. ii. i. 232 It is quite allowable, for the chroniclers of the middle ages to romance in this manner. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 216 Now, when, for the first time, they told the truth, they were supposed to be romancing. 1877 ‘Rita’ Vivienne i. ii, ‘Gaston is romancing as usual,’ said a beautiful brunette. |
b. To have romantic ideas; to use romantic language.
| 1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. xii. 292 That I am a ‘romancing chit of a girl’ is a mere conjecture on your part: I never romanced to you. 1870 Lowell Stud. Wind., Condesc. Foreigners, While I had been romancing with myself, the street lamps had been lighted. |
3. a. trans. To say hyperbolically.
rare—1.
| 1729 Fielding Temple Beau. iii. x, You may justly say of them, what a certain philosopher romanced of learning—‘That you know nothing at all’. |
b. To persuade
into something by romancing.
| 1825 Examiner 609/2 The merits and conduct of a family which we are to be romanced into a legitimate regard for. |
4. To translate into a Romance tongue.
| 1878 tr. Lacroix's Sci. & Lit. Middle Ages 365 Various popular songs which had already been romanced—that is to say, written in the vulgar or Romance tongue. |
5. trans. To have a romance or affair with, to court.
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang. §354/4 Court,..race, romance, run with, run or chase after, rush. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) vi. 59, I was accused of romancing everyone in the band. 1970 M. Butterworth Vanishing Act xi. 125 A good-looking chap..could do a bit of counter-jumping and romance the lady customers..if he had the cheek. 1976 T. Gifford Cavanaugh Quest v. 79 They were working on my kind of music... I'd romanced Anne to old stuff like that and we'd made love to Claude Thornhill recordings. 1980 N. Dempster in Daily Mail 10 Apr. 19/3 He has been romancing Antonia for a year. |
Add:
[5.] b. To seek to persuade (
esp. a rival or client), often by means of attentiveness or flattery; to court the favour of; to pursue.
orig. U.S.| 1961 in Webster. 1962 Washington Daily News 3 July 27/1 It was their seventh success in the last 10 tries and they're playing as if they mean to continue romancing the Yankees who are only a few percentage points in front of them. 1985 New Yorker 22 Apr. 94/3 There were oilies who could not be bombed out of the downtown banks, it was said, and Patterson, at Jennings' bidding, was prepared to romance them. 1988 Daily Tel. 25 Nov. 11/1 Will putative investors be similarly wary when they are romanced with all the glitz and glamour that attend privatisation campaigns? |