Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A love affair, especially an illicit one.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Love; affection; friendship.
  • noun Love toward one of the opposite sex.
  • noun A love-affair; love-making; especially, an illicit love-affair; an intrigue.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Love; affection.
  • noun Love making; a love affair; usually, an unlawful connection in love; a love intrigue; an illicit love affair.
  • noun [Obs.] in love with.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A love affair.
  • noun A lover.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Old Provençal, from Latin amor, love; see amorous.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French amour

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Examples

  • At the time of the first Kinsey study on sexuality, H.L. Mencken wrote, "All that humorless document really proves is (a) that all men lie when they are asked about their adventures in amour, and (b) that pedagogues are singularly naïve and credulous creatures."

    Dirty talk? New sex survey's surprising stats Alexandra Petri 2010

  • Imagine telling the world that his Argentine amour is his soul mate, but he's trying to fall in love again with his wife!

    Resignation drumbeat grows louder in South Carolina 2009

  • The phrase amour-propre since 'propre' means clean elides 'self-love' and 'clean-love'.

    Archive 2007-05-01 Adam Roberts Project 2007

  • The phrase amour-propre since 'propre' means clean elides 'self-love' and 'clean-love'.

    Self-love Adam Roberts Project 2007

  • For the rest, the arrangement of princely establishments in the way of amour is pleasantly portrayed in this [Page vi] brief volume, which in many respects is not without its moral.

    Memoirs of Mary Robinson Mary Elizabeth Robinson 1895

  • Or wonder if your amour is a Drama Queen or Drama King.

    Karen Salmansohn: Wedding Bells or Warning Bells? 2008

  • Or wonder if your amour is a Drama Queen or Drama King.

    Karen Salmansohn: Wedding Bells or Warning Bells? 2008

  • Or wonder if your amour is a Drama Queen or Drama King.

    Karen Salmansohn: Wedding Bells or Warning Bells? 2008

  • She has not yet developed what Rousseau called amour propre - love of one's own, in the sense of loving one's own position/status/reputation viz. others.

    Archive 2007-01-07 2007

  • She has not yet developed what Rousseau called amour propre - love of one's own, in the sense of loving one's own position/status/reputation viz. others.

    A Pox On Me 2007

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