paramour
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paramour
- /ˈpæɹəmʊə/ UK
- /-mɔː/ UK
- /ˈpɛɹəˌmʊ(ə)ɹ/ US
- /-ˌmɔɹ/ US
Where it comes from
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.
noun paramours
-
A person who is the object of one's love, especially in an affair or romance; a lover; also, a sexual partner.
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.
Similar: admirer, adorer, baby, beloved, courter, crush, darling, enamorado, flame, follower, leman, loteby
- 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
- A woman who is the object of a knight's love, and who he fights for. It is the leaſt of his famous aduentures, that hee vndertaketh to be Greenes [Robert Greene's?] aduocate: […] He may declare his deere affection to his Paramour; or his pure honeſtye to the vvorld; […]
- God as the object of a person's devotion or love. Clad you with yͤ ſilke of ſinceritie, with yͤ ſaten [satin] of ſanctitie, with the purple of probitie. Thus prune and pricke vp your ſelues, and God himſelfe ſhall be your paramour, ⁊c.
verb paramours · paramouring · paramoured
- To have an illicit or secret affair with a person, especially someone who is not one's spouse. [W]ine loued I deeply, dice deerely, and in vvoman out paromord the Turke, […]
adverb paramours
-
Of loving, etc.: out of or through romantic feeling or sexual desire; passionately.
[…] Cleopatra, doughter of Ptolomee late kinge of Egypt (whome Ceſar [Julius Caesar] in his lyfe helde for his Concubine) the ſame lady Antoni [Mark Antony] (with whome Octauiane [later Augustus] deuided the empire) loued alſo peramours, abandonynge his wyfe, whiche was ſuſter to Octauian.
Similar: devotedly, passionately
- Used chiefly when addressing someone: out of or through devotion or kindness; as a favour or kindness. [T]he Lord Chiefe Iuſtice ſtood vp, and forbad the proceedings, alotting Paramour the Lands vvith the ſatiſfying of the plaintifes, and thereupon commanded Nailor to giue Thorn againe his Gauntlet, vvhich he vnvvillingly did; and ſo the Combate being ended, vve may haue leaue to proceed.
Translations
Every language
noun person with whom one has an illicit or secret affair; one with whom a married person has an adulterous affair
| Español | amante, amor prohibido |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 애인 aein, 정부 jeongbu, 남첩 namcheop |
| 日本語 | 愛人 aijin, 情婦 jōfu, 男妾 |
| 中文 | 姦夫 /奸夫 jiānfū, 姦婦 /奸妇 jiānfù, 男妾 nánqiè, 姘頭 /姘头 pīntóu, 情婦 /情妇 qíngfù, 相好 xiānghǎo de |
| Português | amante |
| Français | amant, amante, maîtresse |
| Deutsch | Buhle, Geliebte, Geliebter, Liebhaber, Liebhaberin, Mätresse |
| Italiano | amante, madama |
| Ελληνικά | ερωμένος eroménos, ερωμένη eroméni, εραστής erastís |
| Română | amant, amantă |
| Русский | любо́вник ljubóvnik, любо́вница ljubóvnica |
| العربية | خَلِيل ḵalīl, خَلِيلَة ḵalīla, عَشِيق ʕašīq, عَشِيقَة ʕašīqa |
| עברית | מְאַהֵב m'ahév |
noun woman who is the object of a knight’s love, and who he fights for
| Русский | да́ма се́рдца dáma sérdca |
|---|
Talk about this word "paramour." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/paramour. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. paramour. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/paramour "paramour." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/paramour.Cite this
@misc{paramour_2026,
title = {paramour},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/paramour},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
