carry a torch

Meanings

1. To love or to be romantically infatuated with, especially when such feelings are not reciprocated.

Etymology

From the metaphor of a burning flame, to keep a fire burning. The association of a torch with love may date to the Greek and Roman tradition of a wedding torch, lit in the bride’s hearth on her wedding night, then used to light the hearth in her new home. Such a torch is associated with the Greek god of marriage Hymenaios.