paramour
A person with whom one has an illicit or secret affairA 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.
Meaning
4 senses(broadly, 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
Buhle, Geliebte, Geliebter
любо́вникljubóvnik, любо́вницаljubóvnica
коха́нецьkoxánecʹ, коха́нокkoxánok, полюбо́вникpoljubóvnyk
(broadly, historical)A woman who is the object of a knight's love, and who he fights for.
да́ма се́рдцаdáma sérdca
a woman who cohabits with an important man
(archaic)A person who is the object of one's love, especially in an affair or romance; a lover; also, a sexual partner.
(broadly, obsolete)God as the object of a person's devotion or love.
Examples
4 sentencesTom has a lot of paramours.
She spent the weekend with her paramour.
ruОна провела выходные с любовником. — marafon · CC BY 2.0 FR
Tom's paramour Mary studies the history of claims of telepathy.
Tom is Mary's paramour.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 2
By meaning 1
Origin
The adverb is derived from Middle English par amour, paramore, paramours (“with sexual desThe 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)).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: paramoursSynonyms
29 synonymsWord family
1 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.