love

English

/lʌv/, /lʊv/

noun
Definitions
  • (uncountable) Strong affection.
  • (countable) A person who is the object of romantic feelings; a darling, a sweetheart, a beloved.
  • (colloquial)
  • A thing, activity etc which is the object of one's deep liking or enthusiasm.
  • (euphemistic) Sexual desire; attachment based on sexual attraction.
  • (euphemistic) Sexual activity.
  • An instance or episode of being in love; a love affair.
  • (obsolete) A thin silk material.
  • A climbing plant, Clematis vitalba.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English love inherited from Old English lufu (love) inherited from Proto-Germanic *lubō derived from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (love, like, hold dear, break off, desire, cut off, care, peel, rind, break, damage) inherited from Middle English loven inherited from Old English lufian (love) root from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (love, like, hold dear, break off, desire, cut off, care, peel, rind, break, damage).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*lewbʰ-

Gloss

love, like, hold dear, break off, desire, cut off, care, peel, rind, break, damage

Concept
Semantic Field

Kinship

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

好

Emoji
❤️ 🏩 👨‍❤️‍👨 👩‍❤️‍👨 👩‍❤️‍👩 👰‍♀️ 💋 💌 💑 💒 💓 💕 💖 💗 💘 💝 😍 😘 😚 😻 🤟 🤰 🤱 🫂

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms