romance

Etymology

From Middle English romauns, roumance, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French romanz, romans (the vernacular language of France, as opposed to Latin), from Medieval Latin rōmānicē, Vulgar Latin rōmānicē (“in the Roman language”, adverb), from Latin rōmānicus (“roman”, adj) from rōmānus (“a Roman”). Doublet of Romansch.

noun

1. A story relating to chivalry; a story involving knights, heroes, adventures, quests, etc.
2. A tale of high adventure.
   Could one have known the past histories of some of the oddly-selected couples who shared everything in common, many a romance might have been written during what, to all outward appearances, was a dull and prosaic time to most lookers-on! 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 152
3. An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair.
4. A strong obsession or attachment for something or someone.
5. Idealized love which is pure or beautiful.
6. A mysterious, exciting, or fascinating quality.
7. A story or novel dealing with idealized love.
8. An embellished account of something; an idealized lie.
9. An adventure, or series of extraordinary events, resembling those narrated in romances.
   His life was a romance.
10. A dreamy, imaginative habit of mind; a disposition to ignore what is real.
    She was so full of romance she would forget what she was supposed to be doing.
11. (music) A romanza, or sentimental ballad.

verb

1. (transitive) To woo; to court.
   In the ghetto, the gentle Barber romances a defiant washerwoman, Hannah, who is played by Chaplin's wife at the time, Paulette Goddard. February 5 2021, Nicholas Barber, “The Great Dictator: The film that dared to laugh at Hitler”, in BBC
2. (intransitive) To write or tell romantic stories, poetry, letters, etc.
3. (intransitive) To talk extravagantly and imaginatively; to build castles in the air.