romance

noun

• 1 [mass noun] a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love:I had a thirst for romance
• love, especially when sentimental or idealized:he asked her for a date and romance blossomed
• [count noun] a love affair, especially one that is not very serious or long-lasting:a holiday romance
• [count noun] a book or film dealing with love in a sentimental or idealized way:light historical romances
• a genre of fiction dealing with love in a sentimental or idealized way:wartime passion from the master of romance

• 2 [mass noun] a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life:the romance of the sea

• 3a medieval tale dealing with a hero of chivalry, of the kind common in the Romance languages:the Arthurian romances

• 4a work of fiction depicting a setting and events remote from everyday life, especially one of a kind popular in the 16th and 17th centuries:Elizabethan pastoral romances

• 5 Music a short informal piece: the romance from The Gadfly became a popular favourite

verb

• 1 dated try to gain the love of; court:the wealthy estate owner romanced her
• informal seek the attention or custom of (someone), especially by the use of flattery:he is being romanced by the big boys in New York
• [no object] engage in a love affair:we started romancing

• 2another term for romanticize.to a certain degree I am romancing the past