# paramour

Pronunciation: say "PA-ruh-moor" US /ˈpæɹ.əˌmʊɚ/, UK /ˈpæɹ.əˌmʊə/

## Noun

1. A lover in an illicit relationship, who may be either a man or a woman. *(literary)*
   - Simple: A man or woman who is someone's lover in a relationship that is not allowed.
   - _The senator was photographed leaving a hotel late at night with his paramour._
   - _Court gossip kept a careful tally of the king's many paramours._

## Adverb

2. In a passionate way that springs from sexual desire, used chiefly of loving someone. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: With strong sexual desire, used mostly about how someone loves another person.

## Noun

3. Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary as a beloved, addressed in devotion by a person of the opposite sex: Christ by a woman, Mary by a man. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Jesus or the Virgin Mary spoken of as a loved one, Jesus by a woman or Mary by a man.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To carry on a love affair, keeping company with a lover in an illicit relationship.

## Origin

The Old French phrase par amor, "for love's sake", gave Middle English paramour, also written paramoure, peramour or paramur. The way the word is said today apparently reflects a fresh adaptation from French in Early Modern English.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/paramour (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).