love
pronunciation
How to pronounce love in British English:
UK [lʌv]
How to pronounce love in American English:
US [lʌv]
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- Noun:
- a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
- any object of warm affection or devotion
- a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
- a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction
- a score of zero in tennis or squash
- sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people
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- Verb:
- have a great affection or liking for
- get pleasure from
- be enamored or in love with
- have sexual intercourse with
Word Origin
- love
- love: [OE] The word love goes back to an Indo- European *leubh-, which has spawned a huge lexical progeny: not just words for ‘love’ (love’s Germanic relatives, such as German liebe and Dutch liefde, as well as the archaic English lief ‘dear’ [OE] and Latin libīdō ‘strong desire’, source of English libidinous [15]) but also words for ‘praise’ (German lob and Dutch lof) and ‘belief’ (German glauben, Dutch gelooven, English believe).The sense ‘find pleasing’ is primary; it subsequently developed to ‘praise’ and, probably via ‘be satisfied with’, to ‘trust, believe’. The derivative lovely [OE] originally meant ‘affectionate’ and ‘lovable’; the modern sense ‘beautiful’ did not develop until the late 13th century.=> believe, leave, lief
- love (n.)
- Old English lufu "love, affection, friendliness," from Proto-Germanic *lubo (cognates: Old High German liubi "joy," German Liebe "love;" Old Norse, Old Frisian, Dutch lof; German Lob "praise;" Old Saxon liof, Old Frisian liaf, Dutch lief, Old High German liob, German lieb, Gothic liufs "dear, beloved"). The Germanic words are from PIE *leubh- "to care, desire, love" (cognates: Latin lubet, later libet "pleases;" Sanskrit lubhyati "desires;" Old Church Slavonic l'ubu "dear, beloved;" Lithuanian liaupse "song of praise"). "Even now," she thought, "almost no one remembers Esteban and Pepita but myself. Camilla alone remembers her Uncle Pio and her son; this woman, her mother. But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning." [Thornton Wilder, "Bridge of San Luis Rey," 1927] Meaning "a beloved person" is from early 13c. The sense "no score" (in tennis, etc.) is 1742, from the notion of "playing for love," i.e. "for nothing" (1670s). Phrase for love or money "for anything" is attested from 1580s. Love seat is from 1904. Love-letter is attested from mid-13c.; love-song from early 14c. To fall in love is attested from early 15c. To be in love with (someone) is from c. 1500. To make love is from 1570s in the sense "pay amorous attention to;" as a euphemism for "have sex," it is attested from c. 1950. Love life "one's collective amorous activities" is from 1919, originally a term in psychological jargon. Love affair is from 1590s. The phrase no love lost (between two people) is ambiguous and was used 17c. in reference to two who love each other well (c. 1640) as well as two who have no love for each other (1620s).
- love (v.)
- Old English lufian "to love, cherish, show love to; delight in, approve," from Proto-Germanic *lubojan (cognates: Old High German lubon, German lieben), from root of love (n.). Related: Loved; loving. Adjective Love-hate "ambivalent" is from 1937, originally a term in psychological jargon.
Example
- 1. I love music and dancing .
- 2. So what makes it love ?
- 3. Do you still love me ?
- 4. The recipients love this system .
- 5. This is the first love of his life .