-təˌsizəm noun
( -s )
Etymology: romantic (I) + -ism
1. : the quality or state of being romantic
passed through a period of romanticism when a broken love affair somehow seemed noble — G.R.Carlsen
pure romanticism to expect any solution of isolated issues — J.A.del Vayo
no time for vague romanticism in foreign policy — New Republic
2. often capitalized
a.
(1) : a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in Europe in the 18th century, characterized chiefly by a reaction against neoclassicism with its stress on reason and intellect and an emphasis on the imagination and emotions and their freely individualized expression or realization in all spheres of activity, and marked especially in English literature by sensibility and the use of autobiographical material of an introspective cast, an exaltation of the primitive and the common man, an appreciation and often a worship of external nature, an interest in the remote in time and space, a predilection for melancholy, and the use in poetry of older verse forms (as the ballad stanza and the sonnet) — compare classicism 3
(2) : an aspect of romanticism (as sentimentalism, primitivism, or medievalism)
b. : adherence to or practice of romantic doctrine or assumptions
the romanticism of Byron
the romanticism of early 19th century music
the romanticism of Turner's landscapes
the romanticism of Rodin