dalliance

Etymology

From Middle English daliaunce et al., from dalien (“to exchange pleasantries, to chat; to flirt”), from Old French dalier, dailer. Synchronically dally + -ance.

noun

1. Playful flirtation; amorous play.
2. A episode of dabbling.
3. A wasting of time in idleness or trifles.
   But, with a gesture, she put a period to this dalliance—one shouldn't palter so on an empty stomach, she might almost have said. 1922, Michael Arlen, “2/4/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days
4. A sexual relationship, not serious but often illicit.