浪漫

Etymology

Originally a native Chinese word meaning “unrestrained, indulgent”. Later used as a phono-semantic matching of English romantic, itself derived from French romantique.

Pronunciation

Adjective

浪漫

1. (literary) indulgent; unrestrained; at will; wanton
2. (often literary) Alternative term for 爛漫／烂漫 (lànmàn, “bright-coloured; brilliant”).
3. (loanword) romantic

   不懂浪漫  ―  bùdǒng làngmàn  ―  to not understand romance; to be unromantic

4. (by extension) dissolute; debauched; voluptuous; loose

Etymology

/rauman/ → /roːman/

The kanji are ateji (当て字), probably coined by Natsume Sōseki. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Alternative forms

• 浪曼

Pronunciation

• On’yomi: Goon
  • (Tokyo) ろ​ーまん [róꜜòmàǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
  • IPA^(key): [ɾo̞ːmã̠ɴ]

Noun

浪漫 (hiragana ろうまん, rōmaji rōman, historical hiragana らうまん)
(alternative reading katakana ローマン, romaji rōman)

1. Alternative spelling of ロマン (roman, “romance; qualities as if it were a romance novel”)
   • 1990, 米米CLUB, 「浪漫飛行」

     トランク一 (ひと)つだけで浪 (ろう)漫 (まん)飛 (ひ)行 (こう)へ I (イ)n (ン) The (ザ) S (ス)k (カ)y (イ)

     toranku hitotsu dake de rōman hikō e in za sukai

     With only a single suitcase, let's go on a romantic flight in the sky

References