paramour
/ˈpɛɹəˌmʊ(ə)ɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.36 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person who is the object of one's love, especially in an affair or romance; a lover; also, a sexual partner.
Archaic
noun
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.
Dated
Example Sentences
- "No ſolace could her Paramour intreat / Her once to ſhovv, ne court, nor dalliaunce, / But vvith bent lovvring brovves, as ſhe vvould threat, / She ſcould, and frovvned vvith frovvard countenaunce, / Vnvvorthy of faire Ladies comely gouernaunce."
- "It vvas no ſeaſon then for her [Nature] / To vvanton vvith the Sun her luſty Paramour."
- "Their ſociety vvas more like that of a den of outlavvs upon a doubtful frontier; of a levvd tavern for the revels and debauches of banditti, aſſaſſins, bravos, ſmugglers, and their more deſperate paramours, mixed vvith bombaſtick players, the refuſe and rejected offal of ſtrolling theatres, […]"
- "Yes, in […] these very halls, to have lived the paramour of their murderer, the slave at once and the partaker of his pleasures, was to render every breath which I drew of vital air, a crime and a curse."
- ""That is wicked, or rather, villainous: Queen Madásima was a very distinguished lady, and it should not be assumed that so high a princess would become the paramour of a sawbones or a quack, and whoever believes the contrary is lying, like the base scoundrel he is."
- "to run away with a paramour"
Etymology
The 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)). The noun is from Middle English paramour, paramoure, paramur, peramour (“wife; concubine; mistress; husband; male lover; darling, sweetheart; romantic love; sexual passion; (Christianity) Jesus Christ; the Virgin Mary; divine or spiritual love”), from par amour, paramore (adverb) (see above), possibly from a misinterpretation of to love paramour(s) (“to love passionately”) to mean “to love a beloved person”. The verb is partly from both of the following: * From Middle English paramouren (“to love (someone)”), probably derived from the adverb (see above). The Middle English word is only attested in one (possibly 15th-century) source and does not appear to have been used again until the 17th century; compare William Shakespeare's use of out-paramour in King Lear (written c. 1603–1606): see the 1608 quotation. * Uses from the 17th century onwards are probably derived from the noun.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɛɹəˌmʊ(ə)ɹ/
- British English: /ˈpæɹəmʊə/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Religion.