The word “romance” has nothing to do with love. Not originally.

It comes from Latin romanice, meaning ‘in the Roman manner.’ In medieval France, writing romanice meant writing in the language people actually spoke (Old French), as opposed to Latin.

Latin romanice became Old French romanz: either the French language itself, or any story written in it. It didn’t have to involve love at all.

So what happened? The texts people wrote in Old French, as opposed to Latin, tended to be a particular kind of story: tales of knights, quests, chivalric adventure. Arthurian legend, that sort of thing. And those stories happened to feature courtly love as a central element. “Romance” drifted from ‘something written in French’ to ‘the kind of thing written in French’ to, ultimately, ‘a love story.’

Happy Valentine's Day!