romances

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of romance.

   The library devotes an entire wing to medieval verse romances.

   Their brief romances rarely survived the end of the tour.

   Note

   The plural brings together two families of meaning. One is love affairs. The other is stories: chivalric tales of knights and quests, tales of high adventure, and novels and films built around an idealized love. Context usually settles which is meant, since medieval verse romances are books and brief romances are affairs. The same spelling also serves as the verb form, as in she romances him.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of romance.

   The salesman romances his clients over long dinners before closing any deal.

   She romances the camera in every scene, even the quiet ones.

   Note

   Here the spelling belongs to the verb, which splits by whether it takes an object. With an object it means woos or courts (he romances her), and this extends naturally to winning over clients or an audience. Standing alone, it means telling romantic stories or talking extravagantly, building castles in the air (he romances endlessly). An object after the verb points to courtship; no object points to storytelling.

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