amorous

English

Etymology

From Middle English amorous, amerous (14th century), from Old French amoros, amoreus, from Vulgar Latin *amōrōsus, from Latin amor (“love”), related to amāre (“to love”). Compare French amoureux (“in love”). Doublet of amoroso and amoureux.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæ.mɹəs/, /ˈæ.mə.ɹəs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æməɹəs

Adjective

amorous (comparative more amorous, superlative most amorous)

1. Inclined or having a propensity to love, or to sexual enjoyment.

   Synonyms: loving, fond, affectionate

   an amorous disposition

   We were both feeling amorous so the inevitable happened.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168:

     Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

2. Indicating love or sexual desire.

   She kept making these amorous suggestions.

   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:

     UUho when he ſhal embrace you in his arms
     UUil tell how many thouſand men he ſlew.
     And when you looke for amorous diſcourſe,
     Will rattle foorth his facts of war and blood: […]

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 572:

     Long were to tell the amorous aſſayes,
     And gentle pangues, with which he maked meeke
     The mightie Mars, to learne his wanton playes:

   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 218:

     There was no tune to it, only amorous gruntings like those of some old satyr who had furnished music for Circe's revels.

3. Of or relating to, or produced by, love.

   She read me an amorous poem.

4. (dated) Affected with love; in love; enamored.

   He had been amorous of her since schooldays.

Synonyms

• concupiscent
• lustful

Derived terms

Related terms

• amour

Translations

References

• “amorous”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “amorous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• amerous, amerouse, amerowse, amerus, amirous, amoros, amorows, amourous

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French amoros, from Vulgar Latin *amōrōsus; equivalent to amour +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌamuˈruːs/, /ˈamurus/, /ˌaməˈruːs/, /ˈamərus/

Adjective

amorous

1. Amorous, loving (inclined to love or sex)
2. Amorous, loving (indicating or related to love or lust)
3. Amorous, enamoured; in love or lovestruck.
4. (rare, by extension) Passionate, caring, kind.

Derived terms

• amorously

Descendants

• English: amorous
• Scots: amorous

References

• “amorǒus, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.