Love definition

lŭv
loved loves loving
See word origin
Frequency:
A strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship.
noun
116
21
To like or desire enthusiastically.

Loves swimming.

verb
118
45
A deep and tender feeling of affection for or attachment or devotion to a person or persons.
noun
83
21
To feel love for (a person).

We love our parents. I love my friends.

verb
79
25
A strong feeling of affection and concern for another person accompanied by sexual attraction.
noun
60
27
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A strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship.
noun
35
6
To have an intense emotional attachment to.
verb
34
5
An expression of one's love or affection.

Give Mary my love.

noun
28
4
An intense emotional attachment to something, as to a pet or treasured object.
noun
24
5
A feeling of brotherhood and good will toward other people.
noun
25
7
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To feel love for.
verb
20
6
An intense emotional attachment to something, as to a pet or treasured object.
noun
19
5
To feel sexual love for (a person).
verb
28
15
To have an intense emotional attachment to.

Loves his house.

verb
17
4
To feel the emotion of love; be in love.
verb
12
4
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Agape - Means love in modern day Greek, but in ancient times referred to a pure love without sexual connotations.
noun
8
0
To show love for by embracing, fondling, kissing, etc.
verb
18
11
To feel love for a person.

We love our parents. I love my friends.

verb
13
6
To care deeply about, to be dedicated to.
verb
8
1
To feel sexual love for someone.
verb
13
8
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Love is defined as to show or have deep attraction, affection or emotional attachment to a person, people or thing.

An example of love is showering someone with kisses.

An example of love is greeting a good friend with a big hug.

An example of love is watching an amazing dancer dance.

verb
4
0
The person who is the object of such an affection; sweetheart; lover.
noun
4
0
God's tender regard and concern for all human beings.
noun
4
0
A person for whom one has strong feelings of affection.

She met her new love at the restaurant.

noun
3
0
To feel devotion to (God or a god).
verb
3
0
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(colloquial) A term of friendly address, regardless of feelings.

Hello, love, how can I help you?

noun
3
0
To delight in; take pleasure in.

To love books.

verb
11
9
Eros - Includes passionate love full of desire and longing.
noun
4
2
Xenia - Includes hospitality, and refers to a type of love most would consider charity or giving.

An example of love is what a mother feels when looking at her sleeping baby.

An example of love is what a husband feels when his wife winks at him from across the room.

An example of love is what friends feel when sharing a beautiful moment together.

An example of love is among family members; familial love, or love based on kinship ties.

An example of love is love of neighbor, based on the Christian teaching of expressing concern and charity for all people.

An example of love is love of country, or patriotism.

An example of love is love of God, or expressive love for a deity or deities.

noun
4
2
Voël.
anagrams
3
1
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The definition of love is a feeling of deep affection, passion or strong liking for a person or thing.
noun
2
0
Philia - Mentioned by Aristotle, meant a dispassionate, virtuous and unselfish love.
noun
2
0
An expression of one's affection.

Send him my love.

noun
2
0
An instance of being in love.

Teenage loves can be as fleeting as they are intense.

noun
2
0
Used as a term of endearment for such a person.
noun
2
0
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(uncountable) Strong affection.
  • An intense feeling of affection and care towards another person.
    A mother's love is not easily shaken.
  • A deep or abiding liking for something.
    My love of cricket knows no bounds.
  • A profound and caring attraction towards someone.
    Your love is the most important thing in my life.
noun
2
0
Used as the closing, before the signature, of a letter, especially between good friends or family members, or by the young.
noun
2
0
A climbing plant, Clematis vitalba.
noun
2
0
In all words related to the word love, roots relating to dear, pleasing, and cherished may be found, hinting at the deeper transcendent meaning of the modern word.
noun
2
1
(mythology) Eros or Cupid.
noun
2
1
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(sports) A score of zero, as in tennis.
noun
2
1
The object of such liking.
noun
2
1
(countable) The object of one's romantic feelings; a darling or sweetheart.

I met my love by the gasworks wall.

noun
2
1
A feeling of devotion or adoration toward God or a god.
noun
1
0
A feeling of kindness or concern by God or a god toward humans.
noun
1
0
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Sexual desire or activity.

The pleasures of love; a night of love.

noun
1
0
To embrace or caress.

They were loving each other on the sofa.

verb
1
0
Devotion to and desire for God as the supreme good, that all human beings have.
noun
1
0
To need, thrive on.

Mold loves moist, dark places.

verb
1
0
(colloquial) 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.

verb
1
0
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To derive delight from a fact or situation.

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

verb
1
0
To lust for.
verb
1
0
(euphemistic) To have sex with, (perhaps from make love.)

I wish I could love her all night long.

verb
1
0
(obsolete or UK dialectal) To praise; commend.
verb
1
0
(obsolete or UK dialectal) To praise as of value; prize; set a price on.
verb
1
0
(racquet sports) Zero, no score.

So that's fifteen-love to Kournikova.

noun
1
0
anagrams
1
0
pronoun
1
0
An unincorporated community in Kentucky.
pronoun
1
0
To gain benefit from.

A plant that loves shade.

verb
6
6
Sexual intercourse.
noun
2
2
Comes from the Middle English word luf, derived from the Old English word "lufu." This is akin to Old High German, "luba," and another Old English word, lēof, which means ‘dear’.
noun
1
1
(christianity) Charity.
noun
1
1
A strong predilection or enthusiasm.

A love of language; love for the game of golf.

noun
1
1
The object of such an enthusiasm.

The outdoors is her greatest love.

noun
1
1
To thrive on; need.

The cactus loves hot, dry air.

verb
1
1
To feel or show kindness or concern to (a person). Used of God or a god.
verb
1
1
To have sexual intercourse with.
verb
1
1
To feel love or sexual love for another.
verb
1
1
(tennis) A score of zero.
noun
1
1
Strong liking for or interest in something.

A love of music.

noun
1
1
A strong, usually passionate, affection of one person for another, based in part on sexual attraction.
noun
1
1
Cupid, or Eros, as the god of love.
noun
1
1
(rare) Venus.
noun
1
1
(euphemistic) A sexual desire; sexual activity.
noun
1
1
To have a strong affection for.

I love my spouse; I love you.

verb
1
1
Another word related to love, "lubere" or "libere," comes to us from the Romans. This Latin word means 'to please'.
noun
1
2
Sexual passion.
noun
1
2
A strong feeling of affection and concern for another person accompanied by sexual attraction.
noun
6
8
for love
  • Out of compassion; with no thought for a reward:
    She volunteers at the hospital for love.
idiom
4
1
for love or money
  • Under any circumstances. Usually used in negative sentences:
    I would not do that for love or money.
idiom
4
1
for the love of
  • For the sake of; in consideration for:
    Did it all for the love of praise.
idiom
3
2
in love
  • Deeply or passionately enamored:
    A young couple in love.
  • Highly or immoderately fond:
    In love with Japanese painting; in love with the sound of her own voice.
idiom
4
1
no love lost
  • No affection; animosity:
    There's no love lost between them.
idiom
4
1
fall in love (with)
  • to begin to feel love, esp. romantic love, (for)
idiom
4
1
for love
  • as a favor or for pleasure; without payment
idiom
3
1
for the love of
  • for the sake of; with loving regard for
  • a mild exclamation of surprise, exasperation, etc., used in the phrases for the love of God (or Christ, Pete, etc.)
idiom
4
1
in love (with)
  • feeling love, esp. romantic love, (for); enamored (of)
idiom
3
1
make love
  • to woo; court
  • to embrace, kiss, etc. as lovers do
  • to have sexual intercourse
idiom
3
4
no love lost between
  • no liking or affection existing between
idiom
3
1
not for love or money
  • not under any conditions
idiom
3
1

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
love
Plural:
loves

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

for love
fall in love (with)
for love
no love lost between
not for love or money

Origin of love

  • Middle English from Old English lufu leubh- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Middle English love, luve, from Old English lufu (“love, affection, desire"), from Proto-Germanic *lubō (“love"), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbÊ°-, *leubÊ°- (“love, care, desire"). Cognate with Old Frisian luve (“love"), Old High German luba (“love"). Related to Old English lÄ“of (“dear, beloved"), lÄ«efan (“to allow, approve of"), Latin libet, lubō (“to please") and Albanian lyp (“to beg, ask insistently"), lips (“to be demanded, needed"), Serbo-Croatian ljubiti, ljubav, Russian любовь (ljubovʹ), любить (ljubitʹ).

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English loven, lovien, from Old English lofian (“to praise, exalt, appraise, value"), from Proto-Germanic *lubōnÄ… (“to praise, vow"), from *lubÄ… (“praise"), from Proto-Indo-European *leubÊ°- (“to like, love, desire"), *lewbÊ°-. Cognate with Scots love, lofe (“to praise, honour, esteem"), Dutch loven (“to praise"), German loben (“to praise"), Swedish lova (“to promise, pledge"), Icelandic lofa (“to promise"). See also lofe.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English loven, lovien, from Old English lufian (“to love, cherish, sow love to; fondle, caress; delight in, approve, practice"), from the noun lufu (“love"). See above. Compare West Frisian leavje (“to love"), German lieben (“to love").

    From Wiktionary

  • The previously held belief that it originated from the French term l'Å“uf (“the egg"), due to its shape, is no longer widely accepted.

    From Wiktionary

  • The closing-of-a-letter sense is presumably a truncation of With love or the like.

    From Wiktionary

  • From the phrase Neither for love nor for money, meaning "nothing".

    From Wiktionary