con amore

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 29, 2009 is: con amore • \kahn-uh-MOR-ee\ • adverb 1 : with love, devotion, or zest 2 : in a tender manner -- used as a direction in music Examples: I'm not usually one to cry at weddings, but I found myself dabbing my eyes with a tissue as bride and groom recited their vows, con amore. Did you know? "No matter what the object is, whether business, pleasures, or the fine arts; whoever pursues them to any purpose must do so con amore." Wise words -- and the 18th-century Englishman who wrote them under the pseudonym Sir Thomas Fitzosborne may have been drawing on his own experience. At the time those words were written (around 1740), the author, whose real name was William Melmoth, had recently abandoned the practice of law to pursue his interest in writing and classical scholarship, which were apparently his true loves. In any case, by making use of "con amore," a term borrowed from Italian, Melmoth gave us the first known use of the word in English prose. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.