The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Romance \Ro*mance"\, n. [OE. romance, romant, romaunt, OF.
   romanz, romans, romant, roman, F. roman, romance, fr. LL.
   Romanice in the Roman language, in the vulgar tongue, i. e.,
   in the vulgar language which sprang from Latin, the language
   of the Romans, and hence applied to fictitious compositions
   written in this vulgar tongue; fr. L. Romanicus Roman, fr.
   Romanus. See Roman, and cf. Romanic, Romaunt,
   Romansch, Romanza.]
   1. A species of fictitious writing, originally composed in
      meter in the Romance dialects, and afterward in prose,
      such as the tales of the court of Arthur, and of Amadis of
      Gaul; hence, any fictitious and wonderful tale; a sort of
      novel, especially one which treats of surprising
      adventures usually befalling a hero or a heroine; a tale
      of extravagant adventures, of love, and the like.
      "Romances that been royal." --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

            Upon these three columns -- chivalry, gallantry, and
            religion -- repose the fictions of the Middle Ages,
            especially those known as romances. These, such as
            we now know them, and such as display the
            characteristics above mentioned, were originally
            metrical, and chiefly written by nations of the
            north of France.                      --Hallam.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. An adventure, or series of extraordinary events,
      resembling those narrated in romances; as, his courtship,
      or his life, was a romance.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A dreamy, imaginative habit of mind; a disposition to
      ignore what is real; as, a girl full of romance.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. The languages, or rather the several dialects, which were
      originally forms of popular or vulgar Latin, and have now
      developed into Italian. Spanish, French, etc. (called the
      Romanic languages).
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Mus.) A short lyric tale set to music; a song or short
      instrumental piece in ballad style; a romanza.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. a love affair, esp. one in which the lovers display their
      deep affection openly, by romantic gestures.
      [PJC]

   Syn: Fable; novel; fiction; tale.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Romance \Ro*mance"\, a.
   Of or pertaining to the language or dialects known as
   Romance.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Romance \Ro*mance"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Romanced; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Romancing.]
   To write or tell romances; to indulge in extravagant stories.
   [1913 Webster]

         A very brave officer, but apt to romance. --Walpole.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Romance
    adj 1: relating to languages derived from Latin; "Romance
           languages" [syn: Romance, Latin]
    n 1: a relationship between two lovers [syn: love affair,
         romance]
    2: an exciting and mysterious quality (as of a heroic time or
       adventure) [syn: romanticism, romance]
    3: the group of languages derived from Latin [syn: Romance,
       Romance language, Latinian language]
    4: a story dealing with love [syn: love story, romance]
    5: a novel dealing with idealized events remote from everyday
       life
    v 1: make amorous advances towards; "John is courting Mary"
         [syn: woo, court, romance, solicit]
    2: have a love affair with
    3: talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The
       guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband
       never flirts with other women" [syn: chat up, flirt,
       dally, butterfly, coquet, coquette, romance,
       philander, mash]
    4: tell romantic or exaggerated lies; "This author romanced his
       trip to an exotic country"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

177 Moby Thesaurus words for "romance":
   Marchen, Western, Western story, Westerner, adulterous affair,
   adultery, adventure, adventure story, affair, allegorize, allegory,
   amor, amour, apologue, apparition, autism, autistic thinking,
   balderdash, bedtime story, brainchild, brown-nose, bubble,
   butter up, canard, capriccio, caprice, chimera, color,
   colorfulness, concoction, court, cuckoldry, dalliance, delirium,
   dereism, dereistic thinking, detective story, divertissement,
   dreamery, eidolon, entanglement, epic, eternal triangle,
   exaggeration, excitement, extravaganza, fable, fabliau,
   fabrication, fabulize, fairy tale, fancy, fantasia, fantasque,
   fantasy, fascination, fib, fiction, fictionalize, figment, flatter,
   flight of fancy, flirtation, folk story, folktale, forbidden love,
   forgery, gest, ghost story, glamor, hallucination, hanky-panky,
   horse opera, humoresque, ideal, idealism, ideality, idealization,
   idealize, idle fancy, idyll, illicit love, illusion, imagery,
   imagination, imaginative exercise, imaginativeness, imagining,
   impracticality, infidelity, insubstantial image, intrigue,
   invention, legend, liaison, love, love affair, love story, maggot,
   make-believe, medley, melodrama, mystery, mystery story, myth,
   mythicize, mythify, mythologize, mythology, mythos, narrate,
   narrative, nonsense, nostalgia, novel, novelize, nursery tale,
   pander to, parable, phantasm, phantom, play of fancy, potpourri,
   prevarication, quixotism, quixotize, quixotry, recite, recount,
   rehearse, relate, relationship, report, retell, rhapsodize,
   romantic tie, romanticism, romanticize, romanza, science fiction,
   sentiment, shocker, sick fancy, soft-soap, space fiction,
   space opera, storify, story, suspense story, tall story, tall tale,
   tell, tell a story, thick-coming fancies, thriller, triangle, trip,
   unfaithfulness, unfold a tale, unpracticalness, unrealism,
   unreality, utopianism, utopianize, vapor, vision, visionariness,
   whim, whimsy, white lie, whodunit, wildest dreams,
   wish fulfillment, wish-fulfillment fantasy, wishful thinking, woo,
   work of fiction



The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

ROMANCE, n.  Fiction that owes no allegiance to the God of Things as
They Are.  In the novel the writer's thought is tethered to
probability, as a domestic horse to the hitching-post, but in romance
it ranges at will over the entire region of the imagination -- free,
lawless, immune to bit and rein.  Your novelist is a poor creature, as
Carlyle might say -- a mere reporter.  He may invent his characters
and plot, but he must not imagine anything taking place that might not
occur, albeit his entire narrative is candidly a lie.  Why he imposes
this hard condition on himself, and "drags at each remove a
lengthening chain" of his own forging he can explain in ten thick
volumes without illuminating by so much as a candle's ray the black
profound of his own ignorance of the matter.  There are great novels,
for great writers have "laid waste their powers" to write them, but it
remains true that far and away the most fascinating fiction that we
have is "The Thousand and One Nights."