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PlainSpell

romance

/ˈroʊˌmæn(t)s/noun, verb

romance is spelled R-O-M-A-N-C-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, romance means “An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of romance is romances.

How many letters and syllables are in romance?

Letters7: R-O-M-A-N-C-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing21 times per million words; the 4,153rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is romance?

Romance appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce romance?

  • UK /rə(ʊ)ˈman(t)s/
  • UK /ˈrəʊ.man(t)s/
  • US /ˈroʊˌmæn(t)s/

Romance has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-romance.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with romance?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as romance from its last stressed vowel (/oʊmæns/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of romance

  • romances plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • romancing participle, present
  • romanced participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does romance mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair.

  2. 2

    A strong obsession or attachment for something or someone.

  3. 3

    Idealized love which is pure or beautiful.

  4. 4

    A story, novel, film, etc., centred around an idealized love relationship.

  5. 5

    A story relating to chivalry; a story involving knights, heroes, adventures, quests, etc.

  6. 6

    A tale of high adventure.

  7. 7

    A mysterious, exciting, or fascinating quality.

    the romance of cruising down the Nile.

  8. 8

    A literary or filmic genre about idealized love.

verb

  1. 1

    To woo; to court.

  2. 2

    To write or tell romantic stories, poetry, letters, etc.

  3. 3

    To talk extravagantly and imaginatively; to build castles in the air.

noun

as Romance
  1. 1

    The group of languages and cultures which are derived from Vulgar Latin.

adjective

as Romance
  1. 1

    Of or dealing with languages or cultures derived from Roman influence and Latin: French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Galician, Romanian, Catalan, Occitan, etc.

    In this paper we will concentrate on the problem posed by Iberian Romance languages (i.e. Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish), …

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Romance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchromance, idylle (intimate relationship, love affair), amour romantique (idealized love), roman (of or dealing with languages or cultures…)
GermanLiebesgeschichte, Romanze (intimate relationship, love affair), große Liebe, romantische Liebe, Minne (idealized love), Romanisch (group of languages and cultures which are…)
Portugueseromance (intimate relationship, love affair), românico (of or dealing with languages or cultures…)
Spanishromance (intimate relationship, love affair), idiomas románicos / romances, lenguas románicas / romances (group of languages and cultures which are…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does romance come from?

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”, adjective) from rōmānus (“a Roman”). Doublet of Romansch.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after romance