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paramour

 - 3 dictionary results

par⋅a⋅mour

  [par-uh-moor]
Use paramour in a Sentence
–noun
1. an illicit lover, esp. of a married person.
2. any lover.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME, from the phrase par amour by or through love < OF
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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par·a·mour   (pār'ə-mŏŏr')   
n.  A lover, especially one in an adulterous relationship.

[Middle English, from par amour, by way of love, passionately, from Anglo-Norman : par, by (from Latin per; see per1 in Indo-European roots) + amour, love (from Latin amor, from amāre, to love).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

paramour 
c.1300, noun use of adv. phrase par amour (c.1300) "passionately, with strong love or desire," from Anglo-Fr. par amour, from acc. of amor "love." Originally a term for Christ (by women) or the Virgin Mary (by men), it came to mean "darling, sweetheart" (c.1350) and "mistress, concubine, clandestine lover" (c.1386).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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