Wiktionary

paramour

English

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WOTD – 14 February 2026

Etymology

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The adverb is derived from Middle English par amour, paramore, paramours (“with sexual desire or love, passionately; in a courteous or friendly manner”),[1] 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),[2] 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”),[3] 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”.[4]

The verb is partly from both of the following:

  • From Middle English paramouren (“to love (someone)”),[5] probably derived from the adverb (see above).[6] 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.

Pronunciation

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The modern pronunciation is apparently an Early Modern English readaptation of French paramour.

Noun

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paramour (plural paramours)

  1. (chiefly archaic) A person who is the object of one's love, especially in an affair or romance; a lover; also, a sexual partner.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:lover, Thesaurus:sexual partner
  2. (by extension)
    1. (chiefly 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.
      Hyponyms: lover, mistress; see also Thesaurus:mistress
      to run away with a paramour
    2. (historical) A woman who is the object of a knight's love, and who he fights for.
    3. (Christianity, obsolete) God as the object of a person's devotion or love.
      • 1581, Iohn Marbeck [i.e., John Merbecke], “Of Womens Apparell”, in A Booke of Notes and Common Places, with Their Expositions, Collected and Gathered out of the Workes of Diuers Singular Writers, and Brought Alphabetically into Order. […], London: […] Thomas East, →OCLC, page 1171:
        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.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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paramour (third-person singular simple present paramours, present participle paramouring, simple past and past participle paramoured)

  1. (intransitive, chiefly dated) To have an illicit or secret affair with a person, especially someone who is not one's spouse.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Adverb

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paramour (not comparable) (obsolete)

  1. Of loving, etc.: out of or through romantic feeling or sexual desire; passionately.
    Synonyms: devotedly, passionately
  2. Used chiefly when addressing someone: out of or through devotion or kindness; as a favour or kindness.
    • 1611, Iohn Speed [i.e., John Speed], “Elizabeth Queene of England, France and Ireland, […]”, in The History of Great Britaine under the Conquests of yͤ Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. […], London: […] William Hall and John Beale, for John Sudbury and George Humble, […], →OCLC, book IX ([Englands Monarchs] […]), paragraph 138, pages 851–852:
      [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.

Alternative forms

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References

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  1. ^ “par amǒur(e, adverbial phr.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Compare “† paramour, adv.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2025.
  3. ^ “paramǒur(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ “paramour, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2025; “paramour, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ “paramǒuren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  6. ^ “† paramour”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2024.

Further reading

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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The adverb is borrowed 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),[1] 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)). By surface analysis, par- +‎ amour.

The noun is from par amour, paramore (adverb) (see above),[2] possibly from a misinterpretation of to love paramour(s) (“to love passionately”) to mean “to love a beloved person”.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌparaˈmuːr/, /ˈparamur/, /ˈparəmur/

Adverb

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paramour

  1. In a loving or sexual way; amorously, passionately.
    Synonym: amorously
  2. In a caring or kind way; affectionately.
  3. Used to make a request: please.

Descendants

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  • English: paramour (obsolete)

Noun

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paramour (plural paramours)

  1. A romantic or sexual partner; a lover.
    1. An illicit romantic or sexual partner; a paramour.
    2. A term of address for someone that one loves.
  2. Romantic, sexual, or (less often) spiritual passion.
  3. (Christianity, figurative, rare) used by a female person: Jesus Christ as the object of one's devotion or love; also, used by a male person: the Virgin Mary as the object of one's devotion or love.

Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ “par amǒur(e, adverbial phr.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “paramǒur(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
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