paramour
UK /ˈpæɹəmʊə/ · US /ˈpɛɹəˌmʊ(ə)ɹ/ noun, verb, adverb
Forms paramours paramouring paramoured
- noun (chiefly archaic) A person who is the object of one's love, especially in an affair or romance; a lover; also, a sexual partner.
- noun (chiefly dated) A person (especially someone who is not one's spouse) with whom one has an illicit or secret affair; also (Scotland, US, law), one with whom a married person has an adulterous affair. “to run away with a paramour”
- noun (historical) A woman who is the object of a knight's love, and who he fights for.
- noun (Christianity, obsolete) God as the object of a person's devotion or love.
- verb (intransitive, chiefly dated) To have an illicit or secret affair with a person, especially someone who is not one's spouse.
- adverb Of loving, etc.: out of or through romantic feeling or sexual desire; passionately.
- adverb Used chiefly when addressing someone: out of or through devotion or kindness; as a favour or kindness.
Synonyms
admirer adorer baby beloved courter crush darling enamorado flame follower leman loteby love love interest lover sparker sweetheart truelove wooer bedfellow fancy man concubine courtesan doxy
Etymology
The adverb is derived from Middle English par amour, paramore, paramours (“with sexual desire or love, passionately; in a courteous or friendly manner”), from Anglo-Norman par amur (“in a friendly or willing manner”) and Old French par amur, par amour, paramours (“by or through love”) (modern French par amour), from par (“by; through; etc.”) (from Latin per (“by means of, through”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through; etc.”)) + amor, amur (“love”, noun) (from Latin amōrem, the accusative singular of amor (“desire, lust; affection, love”), from amō (“to love”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃- (“to grasp, seize; to take hold; to touch; etc.”)) + -or (suffix forming abstract nouns)).
The noun is from Middle English paramour, paramoure, paramur, peramour (“wife; concubine; mistress; husband; male lover; darling, sweetheart; romantic love; sexual passion; (Christianity) Jesus Christ; the Virgin Mary; divine or spiritual love”), from par amour, paramore (adverb) (see above), possibly from a misinterpretation of to love paramour(s) (“to love passionately”) to mean “to love a beloved person”.
The verb is partly from both of the following:
* From Middle English paramouren (“to love (someone)”), probably derived from the adverb (see above). The Middle English word is only attested in one (possibly 15th-century) source and does not appear to have been used again until the 17th century; compare William Shakespeare's use of out-paramour in King Lear (written c. 1603–1606): see the 1608 quotation.
* Uses from the 17th century onwards are probably derived from the noun.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A lover, of either sex; a wooer or a mistress (formerly in a good sense, now only in a bad one); one who takes the place, without possessing the rights, of a husband or wife; --used of a man or a woman.
- noun Love; gallantry. [Obs.] "For paramour and jollity." Chaucer.
- adverb By or with love, esp. the love of the sexes; --sometimes written as two words. [Obs.]
Etymology [F. par amour, lit., by or with love. See 2d Par, and Amour.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “paramour”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details