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love

[luhv]
See more synonyms for love on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
  2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
  3. sexual passion or desire.
  4. a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.
  5. (used in direct address as a term of endearment, affection, or the like): Would you like to see a movie, love?
  6. a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour.
  7. sexual intercourse; copulation.
  8. (initial capital letter) a personification of sexual affection, as Eros or Cupid.
  9. affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one's neighbor.
  10. strong predilection, enthusiasm, or liking for anything: her love of books.
  11. the object or thing so liked: The theater was her great love.
  12. the benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.
  13. Chiefly Tennis. a score of zero; nothing.
  14. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter L.
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verb (used with object), loved, lov·ing.
  1. to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
  2. to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
  3. to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
  4. to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
  5. to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
  6. to have sexual intercourse with.
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verb (used without object), loved, lov·ing.
  1. to have love or affection for another person; be in love.
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Verb Phrases
  1. love up, to hug and cuddle: She loves him up every chance she gets.
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Idioms
  1. for love,
    1. out of affection or liking; for pleasure.
    2. without compensation; gratuitously: He took care of the poor for love.
  2. for the love of, in consideration of; for the sake of: For the love of mercy, stop that noise.
  3. in love, infused with or feeling deep affection or passion: a youth always in love.
  4. in love with, feeling deep affection or passion for (a person, idea, occupation, etc.); enamored of: in love with the girl next door; in love with one's work.
  5. make love,
    1. to embrace and kiss as lovers.
    2. to engage in sexual activity.
  6. no love lost, dislike; animosity: There was no love lost between the two brothers.
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Origin of love

before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English lufu, cognate with Old Frisian luve, Old High German luba, Gothic lubō; (v.) Middle English lov(i)en, Old English lufian; cognate with Old Frisian luvia, Old High German lubōn to love, Latin lubēre (later libēre) to be pleasing; akin to lief
Related formsout·love, verb (used with object), out·loved, out·lov·ing.o·ver·love, verb, o·ver·loved, o·ver·lov·ing.

Synonyms

See more synonyms for love on Thesaurus.com
1. tenderness, fondness, predilection, warmth, passion, adoration. 1, 2. Love, affection, devotion all mean a deep and enduring emotional regard, usually for another person. Love may apply to various kinds of regard: the charity of the Creator, reverent adoration toward God or toward a person, the relation of parent and child, the regard of friends for each other, romantic feelings for another person, etc. Affection is a fondness for others that is enduring and tender, but calm. Devotion is an intense love and steadfast, enduring loyalty to a person; it may also imply consecration to a cause. 2. liking, inclination, regard, friendliness. 15. like. 16. adore, adulate, worship.

Antonyms

1, 2. hatred, dislike. 15, 16. detest, hate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for love

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I believe he has given the Athenians philtres to make them love him.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Though younger than myself, she reciprocated the love she had inspired.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • I fly to seek a kindlier sphere, Since thou hast ceased to love me here.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • It had the pure and placid expression of the human soul, when it dwells in love and peace.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • This so excited the admiration of Speusippus, that a love of philosophy was kindled within him.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

British Dictionary definitions for love

love

verb
  1. (tr) to have a great attachment to and affection for
  2. (tr) to have passionate desire, longing, and feelings for
  3. (tr) to like or desire (to do something) very much
  4. (tr) to make love to
  5. (intr) to be in love
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noun
    1. an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing
    2. (as modifier)love song; love story
  2. a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire
  3. wholehearted liking for or pleasure in something
  4. Christianity
    1. God's benevolent attitude towards man
    2. man's attitude of reverent devotion towards God
  5. Also: my love a beloved person: used esp as an endearment
  6. British informal a term of address, esp but not necessarily for a person regarded as likable
  7. (in tennis, squash, etc) a score of zero
  8. fall in love to become in love
  9. for love without payment
  10. for love or money (used with a negative) in any circumstancesI wouldn't eat a snail for love or money
  11. for the love of for the sake of
  12. in love in a state of strong emotional attachment and usually sexual attraction
  13. make love
    1. to have sexual intercourse (with)
    2. archaicto engage in courtship (with)
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Related formsRelated adjective: amatory

Word Origin

Old English lufu; related to Old High German luba; compare also Latin libēre (originally lubēre) to please
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for love

n.

Old English lufu "love, affection, friendliness," from Proto-Germanic *lubo (cf. 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" (cf. 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).

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v.

Old English lufian "to love, cherish, show love to; delight in, approve," from Proto-Germanic *lubojan (cf. 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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with love

love

In addition to the idioms beginning with love

  • love affair
  • love at first sight

also see:

  • all's fair in love and war
  • course of true love
  • fall in love
  • for the love of
  • labor of love
  • make love
  • misery loves company
  • no love lost
  • not for love or money
  • puppy love
  • somebody up there loves me
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.