romance (English)

Where does "romance" come from?

The English noun romance descends from Middle English 'romauns', borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French 'romanz', which referred to the vernacular language of France as opposed to Latin[1]. This Old French term traces back through Medieval Latin and Vulgar Latin 'rōmānicē', meaning in the Roman language, derived from the Latin adjective 'rōmānicus' meaning Roman[1]. The ultimate root is the Latin name of the city 'Rōma'[5], the origins of which remain uncertain[6].

Open questions

• The ultimate origin of the Latin city name Roma is uncertain, with competing theories proposing a derivation from an archaic river name or an Etruscan source. [6]

Full etymology tree

• romance (English), 'An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair.'
  • borrowed romauns (Middle English)
    • borrowed romanz (Old French), 'Old French (language)'
      • inherited romanice (Latin), 'in the Roman manner'
        • derived romanicus (Latin), 'Roman; made in Rome.'
          • derived romanus (Latin), 'Roman'
            • derived Roma (Latin), 'Rome (a major city, the capital of Italy and the Italian region of Lazio, located on the Tiber River; the ancient capital of the Roman Empire)'

Ancestors

• romanz (Old French)
• romanice (Latin)
• romanicus (Latin)

Cognates and doublets

• Romansch (English)

Descendants and derived words

• autumn romance (English)
• bromance (English)
• crimance (English)
• cyberromance (English)
• dark romance (English)
• erom (English)
• family romance (English)
• fauxmance (English)
• gaslight romance (English)
• May-September romance (English)
• metahistorical romance (English)
• outromance (English)

Sources

1. romance (English) - Wiktionary
2. romanicus (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. romanice (Latin) - Wiktionary
4. romanz (Old French) - Wiktionary
5. romanus (Latin) - Wiktionary
6. Roma (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

More words starting with R

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris