Etymograph

English

amourette

Amourette comes from French amourette ‘fling, petty love affair, amourette’, from Proto-Italic *amāō ‘to get hold of’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃emh₃-1‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold, tackle, touch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*amāō1‘to get hold of’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamō1‘to love’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamor2‘love, affection, devotion’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400amor2
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600amour2‘love’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentamour3‘love’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentamourette4‘fling, petty love affair, amourette’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1876amourette4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin amor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French amour
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French amourette
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English amourette
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1876, The New York Drama: “I thought it only an amourette when you told…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃emh₃-Wiktionary, Latin amor‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold, tackle, touch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*amāōWiktionary, Latin amor‘to get hold of’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamōWiktionary, Latin amor‘to love’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamorWiktionary, French amour‘love, affection, devotion’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400amorWiktionary, French amour
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600amourWiktionary, French amour‘love’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentamourWiktionary, French amourette‘love’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentamouretteWiktionary, English amourette‘fling, petty love affair, amourette’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1876amouretteWiktionary, English amourette. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1876, The New York Drama: “I thought it only an amourette when you told…”

Linked words

through Latin amō ‘to love’

enemy, enmity, amicable, amity, amenity, inimical, 20 more

through Latin amor ‘love, affection, devotion’

amorous, 7 more

Today it means

noun A petty love affair.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amourette”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin amor, French amour, French amourette. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃- / amourette

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