love

• loue (obsolete typography)

• enPR: lŭv, IPA^(key): /lʌv/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [lʌv]
  • (General American) IPA^(key): [ɫʌv]
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): [ɫäv~ɫɐv]
  • (India) IPA^(key): [lɘʋ], [lɘv]

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /lʊv/
• Rhymes: -ʌv

From Middle English love, luve, from Old English lufu, from Proto-West Germanic *lubu, from Proto-Germanic *lubō, from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“love, care, desire”).

The close of a letter sense is presumably a truncation of With love or the like.

The verb is from Middle English loven, luvien, from Old English lufian (“to love”), from Proto-West Germanic *lubōn (“to love”), derived from the noun.

Eclipsed non-native English amour (“love”), borrowed from French amour (“love”).

Cognates include Russian любовь (ljubovʹ), Polish lubić and Sanskrit लोभ (lobha, “desire, greed”).

Primates need love

love (countable and uncountable, plural loves)

1. (uncountable) A deep caring for the existence of another.
2. (uncountable) Strong affection.

   Antonyms: hate, hatred, angst, indifference

   1. A profound and caring affection towards someone.

      A mother’s love is not easily shaken.

      My husband’s love is the most important thing in my life.

      • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost:

        He on his side / Leaning half-raised, with looks of cordial love / Hung over her enamoured.

      • 2014, S. Hidden, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Mystical Perspectives on the Love of God (→ISBN)
   2. Affectionate, benevolent concern or care for other people or beings, and for their well-being.
      • 1864, Utilitarianism Explained and Exemplified in Moral and Political Government:

        The love of your neighbor as yourself, is expressly given as the definition and test of Charity,—not alms-giving—and this love is [...] the highest of all the Divine commands[.]

      • 1963, King, Jr., Martin Luther, “A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart”, in Strength to Love‎, New York: Pocket Books, published 1964, OCLC 768659813, page 7:

        Through nonviolent resistance we shall be able to oppose the unjust system and at the same time love the perpetrators of the system. We must work passionately and unrelentingly for full stature as citizens, but may it never be said, my friends, that to gain it we used the inferior methods of falsehood, malice, hate, and violence.

   3. A feeling of intense attraction towards someone.

      I have never been in love as much as I have with you.

      • 1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228728136, Act III, page 39:

        Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.

      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

        The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.

   4. A deep or abiding liking for something; an enthusiasm for something.

      My love of cricket knows no bounds.

      • 2012, Philip Auerswald, The Coming Prosperity, →ISBN:

        For three decades, the average number of miles driven by US motorists increased steadily. Then, in 2007, that steady climb was suddenly halted. [...] What magic caused Americans to temper their longstanding love of the open road?

3. (countable) A person who is the object of romantic feelings; a darling, a sweetheart, a beloved.

   Synonyms: baby, darling, honey, lover, pet, sweetheart; see also Thesaurus:sweetheart

   • 1595, Edmund Spenser, Epithalamion

     Open the temple gates unto my love.

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:

     O love, dispatch all business, and be gone!

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:

     'Oh, my love, my love!' she murmured, 'wilt thou ever know how I have loved thee?' and she kissed him on the forehead, and then went and stood in the pathway of the flame of Life.

   • 1969, The Dubliners, Dirty Old Town:

     I met my love by the gasworks wall.

4. (colloquial, Commonwealth) A term of friendly address, regardless of feelings.

   Synonyms: mate, darling, lovey, sweetie, sweetheart

   Hello love, how can I help you?

5. A thing, activity, etc. which is the object of one's deep liking or enthusiasm.
   • 1997 March, "Faces of Today's Black Woman", in Ebony, volume 52, number 5, page 96:

     But it wasn't until [Theresa M. Claiborne] went to ROTC training camp at the University of California at Berkeley that she discovered that flying was her first love. "Pilots talk about getting bit by the flying bug," she says. "I thought, This is heaven."

6. (euphemistic) Sexual desire; attachment based on sexual attraction.

   Synonyms: aphrodisia, carnality; see also Thesaurus:lust

   • 2013, Ronald Long, Men, Homosexuality, and the Gods, Routledge, →ISBN, page 3:

     The prospect that their cherished Greeks would have countenanced, much less honored, a love between men that expressed itself carnally, however, was not so easily assimilated.

7. (euphemistic) Sexual activity.

   Synonyms: lovemaking, sex; see also Thesaurus:copulation

   • 1986, Ben Elton & al., Blackadder II, "Bells":

     —What think you, my lord, of... love?

     —You mean ‘rumpy-pumpy’.

8. An instance or episode of being in love; a love affair.

   Synonym: romance

   • 2014, E. L. Todd, Then Came Absolution, →ISBN:

     Maybe it was just a summer love, something with no future.

9. Used as the closing, before the signature, of a letter, especially between good friends or family members, or by the young.
10. Alternative letter-case form of Love (“personification of love”).
    • c. 1810,, Samuel Johnson (in The Works of Samuel Johnson):

      At busy hearts in vain love's arrows fly; [...]

11. (obsolete) A thin silk material.
    • 1664, Robert Boyle, Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours, […]

      Such a kind of transparency, as that of a Sive, a piece of Cyprus, or a Love-Hood.

12. A climbing plant, Clematis vitalba.

love (third-person singular simple present loves, present participle loving, simple past and past participle loved)

1. (usually transitive, sometimes intransitive, stative) To have a strong affection for (someone or something).
   • 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., OCLC 18478577; republished as chapter VI, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, volume 1, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, OCLC 988016180:

     wanted to take her in my arms and tell her how I loved her, and had taken her hand from the rail and started to draw her toward me when Olson came blundering up on deck with his bedding.

   • 2013 February 26, Pink and Nate Ruess, Just Give Me a Reason:

     Just give me a reason, / just a little bit's enough, / just a second we're not broken, just bent / and we can learn to love again.

   I love my spouse.   I love you!   I love that song!

2. (transitive) To need, thrive on.

   Mold loves moist, dark places.

3. (transitive) To be strongly inclined towards something; an emphatic form of like.

   I love walking barefoot on wet grass;  I'd love to join the team;  I love what you've done with your hair

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:

     "I love not that underlings should perceive my wisdom."

4. (usually transitive, sometimes intransitive) To care deeply about, to be dedicated to (someone or something).
   • John 3:16

     For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

   • Matthew: 22:37-38

     You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and your whole mind, and your whole soul; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

   • 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:

     The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […] offering services that let you […] "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.

5. (transitive) To derive delight from a fact or situation.

   I love the fact that the coffee shop now offers fat-free chai latte.

6. (transitive, euphemistic) To have sex with (perhaps from make love).

   I wish I could love her all night long.

• (have a strong affection for): adore, cherish; see also Thesaurus:love
• (have sexual intercourse with): enjoy, go to bed with, sleep with; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

• hate, despise, fear

• charity

Now widely believed (due to historical written record) to be from the idea that when one does a thing “for love”, that is for no monetary gain, the word “love” implying "nothing".

The former assumption that it had originated from French l’œuf (literally “the egg”), due to its shape, has largely been discredited and is no longer widely accepted.

Needless to say, the apparent similarity of the shape of an egg to a zero has inspired similar analogies, such as the use of duck (reputed to be short for duck's egg) for a zero score at cricket, and goose egg for "zero".

love (uncountable)

1. (racquet sports, billiards) Zero, no score.

   So that’s fifteen-love to Kournikova.

   • 2013, Paul McNamee, Game Changer: My Tennis Life

     The next day Agassi came back from two sets to love down to beat Courier in five sets.

2. Nothing; no recompense.
   • 1916, H. Rider Haggard, The Ivory Child

     I fought the white man for less than sixpence. I fought him for love, which is nothing at all.

love (third-person singular simple present loves, present participle loving, simple past and past participle loved)

1. Alternative form of lofe (“to praise, sell”)

• love at OneLook Dictionary Search
• love in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• love in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

• levo, levo-, velo-, vole, voël

• IPA^(key): [ˈlovɛ]
• Hyphenation: lo‧ve

Borrowed from Romani love.

love f pl

1. (slang) money

   Synonym: prachy

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

love m

1. vocative singular of lov

• love in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːvə/, [ˈlɔːʋə], [ˈlɔːʊ]

From Middle Low German lōve, from Proto-Germanic *galaubô, cognate with German Glaube.

love c

1. (obsolete) trust, faith

   only in the phrase på tro og love (“solemnly”)

• “love,1” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Old Norse lofa, from Proto-Germanic *(ga)lubōną, cognate with Swedish lova (“to promise; to praise”), German loben (“to praise”), geloben (“to vow”), Dutch loven (“to praise”).

love (past tense lovede, past participle lovet)

1. to promise
2. (solemn) to praise

• “love,2” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “love,3” in Den Danske Ordbog

See See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

love c

1. indefinite plural of lov

• Audio

  (file)

love

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of loven

• velo, voel

• Audio

  (file)

love

1. inflection of lover:
   1. first-person /third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

• vélo, vole, volé

From Latin lupa, feminine of lupus. Compare Venetian lova, French louve.

love f (plural lovis)

1. she-wolf

• lôf

• IPA^(key): /ˈloːvə/

love

1. to praise

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

From Proto-Samic *lokē

love

1. ten

This numeral needs an inflection-table template.

• love in Marja-Liisa Olthuis, Taarna Valtonen, Miina Seurujärvi and Trond Trosterud (2015–2022) Nettidigisäänih Anarâškiela-suomakielâ-anarâškielâ sänikirje‎, Tromsø: UiT

• Koponen, Eino; Ruppel, Klaas; Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008) Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎, Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

lōve

1. dative singular of lof

Inherited from Old English lufu, from Proto-West Germanic *lubu, from Proto-Germanic *lubō.

• lof, lofe, louf, luf, lufe, luff, luffe, luve
• leove, lofve, lufæ (early)

• IPA^(key): /ˈluv(ə)/, /ˈloːv(ə)/

love (plural loves)

1. Love; strong and deep affection:
   1. Sexual or romantic desire (in humans and animals)
   2. Theosis, sanctification, or love as a means to attain it.
2. One who one loves; a loved individual:
   1. A lover; a sexual or romantic partner.
   2. A personification or embodiment of love.
   3. (Christianity) The Holy Spirit (or less often, God generally).
3. A peace treaty; the ending of hostilities.
4. (rare) Permission, consent.

• English: love
• Scots: luve, lufe
• Yola: loove

• “lǒve, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Inherited from Old English lāfe, oblique singular of lāf, from Proto-West Germanic *laibu, from Proto-Germanic *laibō; compare leven (“to halt”), which some forms are influenced by.

• lave, leve, loove
• lafe, læve, loave (early)

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːv(ə)/
• (Northern) IPA^(key): /laːf/, /ˈlaːv(ə)/

love (uncountable)

1. The remainder or rest; that which is left.
   • c. 1375, “Book VI”, in Iohne Barbour, De geſtis bellis et uirtutibus domini Roberti de Brwyß […] (The Brus, Advocates MS. 19.2.2)‎, Ouchtirmunſye: Iohannes Ramſay, published 1489, folio 21, recto, lines 431-434; republished at Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, c. 2010:

     Thyꝛwall þ[at] was þ[air] capitain / Wes þ[air] in þe baꝛgain slain / ⁊ off his men þe maſt p[ar]ty / Ϸe laue fled full affrayitly

     Thirlwall, who was their commander / was killed there in the struggle / with the greatest part of his men; / the rest fled very frightened.

2. (rare) A widow; a woman whose husband has died.

   Synonyms: relicte, widwe

• English: lave
• Scots: lave

• “lōve, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Borrowed from Old Norse lófi, from Proto-Germanic *lōfô; compare glove.

• lof, loove, louf, luf, lufe, luff, luffe

• IPA^(key): /ˈloːv(ə)/, /loːf/

love (plural loves)

1. (chiefly Northern) The palm (inner part of the hand)

• English: loof
• Scots: luif, lufe, luff

• “lọ̄ve, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

love

1. Alternative form of loven (“to love”)

love

1. Alternative form of loven (“to praise”)

From Old Norse lofa.

love (imperative lov, present tense lover, simple past and past participle lova or lovet, present participle lovende)

1. to praise

love (imperative lov, present tense lover, simple past lova or lovet or lovte or lovde, past participle lova or lovet or lovt or lovd, present participle lovende)

1. to promise

   (as an adjective) det lovede land - the Promised Land

• løfte

• “love” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

love (present tense lovar or lover, past tense lova or lovde, past participle lova or lovt or lovd, present participle lovande, imperative lov)

1. Alternative form of lova

love m (definite singular loven, indefinite plural lovar, definite plural lovane)

1. Alternative form of lóve

• vole

love

1. plural of lovo
2. money

• → French: lové
• → Hungarian: lóvé
• → Romanian: lovea
• → Russian: лавэ́ (lavɛ́)
• → Scots: lowie
• → Serbo-Croatian:
  • Cyrillic: ло́ва
  • Latin: lóva
• → Slovak: lóve

love (Cyrillic spelling лове)

1. vocative singular of lov

love (Cyrillic spelling лове)

1. third-person plural present of loviti