rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryamourLove affair
noun

amour

uh-MOOR/əˈmʊr/

A romantic or sexual love affair.

The couple's private garden embrace reveals their tender amour.

Two adults share a tender private embrace in a secluded garden, with affectionate faces and gently clasped hands.
Etymology
amourLatinlove, affection

The ancestor meant love or affection, especially sexual love. English narrowed the word from love generally to a love affair, with an illicit affair becoming its primary sense.

In context

Brown University21:45
wild and lawless amours … of Berenike, daughter of the King of Egypt, and Mesopotamia, with whom she had a sexual affair.
Did Women Marry Other Women in the Roman World? Jewish and Christian Sources
PublicAudioLibrary33:09
no inclination to cross a lion in his amours … a sure sign that his master was courting
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, unabridged audiobook

More examples

  • His amours filled the gossip columns.
  • She remembered an early amour.
  • The letter revealed an amour.

Forms

amour · amours

Similar words

affair
The more usual term for a romantic relationship.
romance
Can describe love without suggesting secrecy.