Etymology: < Anglo-Norman romauns, romaunz, rumanz, rumauns, Anglo-Norman and Old French romanz, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French romans, Middle French rommans, also (after words in -ance -ance suffix) Anglo-Norman romaunce, Anglo-Norman and Middle French romance (also Anglo-Norman and Middle French romant , romaunt (see discussion at romaunt n.), and hence (with loss of the final consonant) Middle French, French roman roman n.²) the vernacular French language (c1125 as ronmanz ; end of the 12th cent. as romant and roman ; 1596 as roman denoting vulgar Latin or the precursor of the modern Romance languages), French text which is a translation or adaptation of a Latin original (1140), medieval narrative (originally in verse, later also in prose) written in the vernacular rather than in Latin (and usually relating the legendary or extraordinary adventures of some hero of chivalry) (1155; frequently in titles of such works, e.g. the Roman de la Rose ; in modern French chiefly in sense ‘novel’: see roman n.²) < post-classical Latin romanice (adverb) in the vernacular (11th cent.; < classical Latin Rōmānicus Romanic adj. + -ē , suffix forming adverbs), with regular elision of the unstressed medial -i- . The β. forms are probably partly after the similar (but relatively rare) forms in Anglo-Norman and Middle French, and partly the result of similar remodelling after words in -ance suffix within English. Compare Old Occitan romans , romanz Occitan language (12th cent.), text written in the vernacular (probably 12th cent.), Catalan romanç , †romans vernacular language, medieval narrative (originally in verse, later also in prose) relating the legendary or extraordinary adventures of some hero of chivalry (both 13th cent.), Spanish romance (noun) vernacular language, Spanish (13th cent.; also †romanz ), medieval narrative (originally in verse, later also in prose) relating the legendary or extraordinary adventures of some hero of chivalry (13th cent.; also †romanz ), Spanish poem in octosyllabic verses (first half of the 15th cent.; also †romanço ), (adjective) designating any of the languages descended from Latin (1823), Portuguese romance (noun) vernacular language (descended from Latin) (14th cent. as †romançii , †rromãço ), (adjective) of or relating to Old Occitan troubadour poetry (14th cent. as †rromanço ), romanço (adjective) vernacular, (noun) medieval narrative (originally in verse, later also in prose) relating the legendary or extraordinary adventures of some hero of chivalry (both 14th cent.), Italian romanzo (noun) medieval narrative (originally in verse, later also in prose) relating the legendary or extraordinary adventures of some hero of chivalry (13th cent.), incredible story (1374), novel (a1698), (adjective) designating any of the languages descended from Latin (1708). Compare also post-classical Latin romancia story (1390 in a British source), vernacular language (1408, 1449), romancium , romantium something written in the vernacular (1290), Spanish language (13th cent.), French language (14th cent.). Compare later romaunt n., romaunt adj., and also later roman n.²From the original use of the French noun in the sense ‘vernacular French language’ extended uses denoting texts written in the vernacular developed early on. Often such texts were adaptations or translations of Latin originals; for instance, Wace's Brut and Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie are based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae and Dares Phrygius's De excidio Troiae respectively. Texts which have no antecedent in Latin are also found from an early date, and the word came to be applied also to these. Since vernacular texts were usually narratives and often featured the adventures of heroes of chivalry, the terms romanz , romans , etc. came to denote such works in particular. Senses A. 4, A. 5, A. 6, A. 7 all arose (apparently within English) ultimately from being characteristic of the style or content of the literary works denoted by senses A. 1 and A. 3. Compare similar use of French roman in the senses ‘web of allegations which have no factual basis or are intended to deceive people’ (1652), ‘implausible story’ (1656), ‘passionate love affair’ (1659), although these are first attested slightly later than the corresponding senses in English. Compare also the closely related semantic development of romantic adj. In sense A. 2a after Spanish romance (see above). Compare ( < Spanish) Middle French, French romance old Spanish song (1599), Spanish poem in octosyllabic verses (1606; compare sense A. 2a). In sense A. 2b after French romance tender, sentimental, plaintive, or melancholic song (1719 in sense ‘naive and sentimental song’), apparently a transferred use romance Spanish song (see above). Compare later romanza n. and discussion at that entry. In senses A. 9, B. 1b after the Romansh self-designation; compare earlier Romansh n., Romansh adj. With sense B. 1a compare Middle French laingue romance (14th cent. in an apparently isolated attestation in a text from Lorraine), French langue romance language supposed to have constituted an intermediate stage between Latin and the modern Romance languages (1671), langue romane Romance language (1765). The Romance nouns were also borrowed into other Germanic languages, chiefly in technical uses denoting various kinds of literary works or musical pieces; compare Middle Dutch romanse poem in a vernacular Romance language (late 15th cent.; < Middle French or Old Occitan) and Dutch romance , †romanze (1782; < French, probably via German), German Romanze (late 17th cent. in sense ‘medieval narrative’, 1756 in sense ‘popular ballad’, second half of the 18th cent. in senses ‘simple sentimental song’ and ‘musical composition of a tender or lyrical character’ ( > romanze n.); < French), Old Danish romanz (Danish romance , †romans , (now rare) romanze ), Swedish romans (1674; also †romanz , (now rare) romance ). The apparent instance of the word in the following quot., previously interpreted as illustrating sense A. 4b, is transcribed in a later edition of the same text ( Archæol. Jrnl. (1886) 43 167) as somannce , i.e. a variant of summons n.:1497–8 in W. M. Williams Ann. Worshipful Company Founders (1867) 46 Recvyed [sic]..of Maister Chamb[er]leyne of London for a fyne lost by Robt. Wells for romaunce, ij d.In Middle English and Older Scots, unchanged plural forms are frequently attested, although it is possible that some of these instances may reflect use as a collective noun. Metrical evidence suggests that the position of the main stress has been variable from an early date. For modern evidence of stress on the first syllable compare:1921 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. (ed. 2) 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 vii. 87 It's the end of ro-mance, is marriage. In British English pronunciations with stress on the first syllable occur mainly in the senses at branch A. I., especially A. 5, A. 6, and A. 7, but probably less commonly than pronunciations with stress on the second syllable.

Etymology: < romance n. In sense 3 after French romancer to translate (a text) into a Romance language (c1350 in Middle French; in Middle French also as romancier; also in senses ‘to compose romances’ (1585) and ’to transform (facts) into fiction in the manner of a novelist’ (a1681)). Compare Spanish romancear to translate (a text) into a Romance language (1605), Portuguese romancear (1665, earliest in sense ‘to translate (a text) into a Romance language’), Italian romanzare to write fictional stories in verse (1598 in Florio; now obsolete), to embellish (a story) fancifully (1877). N.E.D. (1909) gives only the pronunciation (romæ·ns) /rəʊˈmæns/.