Romant

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An obsolete word for a medieval tale of chivalry, adventure, or courtly love told in verse or prose
2. A archaic term for a long narrative of knightly exploits and heroic or amorous adventure from the Middle Ages
3. Old-fashioned name for a chivalric story of noble deeds, quests, and love written in the medieval period

Etymology: The word "romant" is an obsolete spelling of "romaunt," and both forms come from Old French "romaunt," a variant of "romanz." That French word originally meant something written in the vernacular Romance language rather than in Latin, so a "romance" was first a story told in the everyday tongue of the people, not in the learned language of the Church and scholars. The name was shaped by the Latin "Romanicus," meaning "Roman" or "in the Roman manner," from which Vulgar Latin developed "romanice," a word for speaking the Romance vernacular. Over time the label stuck to a particular kind of story. Medieval tales of knights, quests, and courtly love were composed in these vernacular languages, so the word narrowed to name that genre of chivalric adventure. The spelling "romant" appeared in English as a variant of the same word, and it is now archaic, surviving mainly in discussions of older literature.

Synonyms: romance, tale, story, legend