ILY

or ily

abbreviation for

1. I love you.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ILY¹

From its use in digital communications

Example Sentences

We say "prim-arily" and "tem-porarily;" most (or at any rate many) Americans say "primar-ily" and "temporar-ily."

From Project Gutenberg

You know you sing a little bit, Ily; you took music-lessons nearly two years in Logansport.

From Project Gutenberg

Lippincott's Magazine this month is heartily welcome,—we should say, Bret Harte-ily welcome.

From Project Gutenberg

"There, 'Emily did it,' and didn't do it all," I said to myself.

From Project Gutenberg

He will never be ashamed of his sister, I think, and never say 'Emily did it,' even if she turns preacher.

From Project Gutenberg

More About ILY

What does ILY mean?

ILY stands for I love you. It is used in digital communication (online) as an earnest or playful declaration of affection.

ILY is also associated with an American Sign Language sign for I love you.

How is ILY pronounced?

[ ahy-el-wahy ]

What are other forms of ILY?

ily

What are some other words related to ILY?

• 143
• XOXO
• hugs and kisses

Where does ILY come from?

The phrase I love you, in one form or another, is as old as the English language itself. ILY, the acronym, on the other hand, is a bit more recent.

In American Sign Language, the ILY hand sign for I love you combines the signs for letters I, L, and Y in American Sign Language. It is represented in emoji form as the I love you hand sign: 🤟.

<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-147860" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-147860" src="https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ILY-300x215.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="215" />

Signing Savvy

ILY is also common in textspeak, or the abbreviations, acronyms, and slang used on cell phones and the internet. ILY appeared online by the 1990s.

How is ILY used in real life?

ILY in American Sign Language can express a range of positive feelings—love chief among them, of course.

Jimmy Carter memorably used the ILY sign during his Inauguration Day parade in 1977. The Marvel superhero, Doctor Strange, uses the gesture to cast spells. 

Sometimes the ILY sign is confused with the sign of the horns gesture (🤘), as associated with rock music.

Online and in text messages, people use ILY as a shorthand way to express a variety of affectionate and loving emotions.

imy and ily all so much 😭💖 pic.twitter.com/BXoFG7vEQm

— cedrıc (@cpaculan_) February 23, 2020

<svg width="50px" height="50px" viewbox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg>

View this post on Instagram

‼️After working more than one year for you guys , HEAVEN MAY CLOTHING ( my brand ) is coming out really soon !! I can’t wait for u guys to see all the collection I made :)))) Ily and thank u for ur support 🖤❤️ @heavenmayclothing

A post shared by Thylane 🦋 (@thylaneblondeau) on Sep 1, 2018 at 3:13pm PDT