paramour

The word 'paramour' entered English in the early 14th century from the Anglo-French phrase 'par amour', meaning 'with love' or 'by love'. Originally, this phrase was used as an adverbial expression to denote doing something out of passionate love. Over time, it was lexicalized into a single noun in English, shifting from describing an action ('through love') to labeling the person who is the object of such passionate, often secretive or illicit, love. This semantic evolution reflects a classic pattern where an adverbial phrase condenses into a noun, with the intensifying 'par' (through) emphasizing the depth or illicit nature of the 'amour' (love).

Structure: par (through) + amour (love) - par: From Old French 'par', from Latin 'per' (through, by). In this context, it functions as an intensifying prefix. - amour: From Old French 'amour' (love), from Latin 'amor' (love). It functions as the core noun root.