Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship.
- noun A strong feeling of affection and concern for another person accompanied by sexual attraction.
- noun A feeling of devotion or adoration toward God or a god.
- noun A feeling of kindness or concern by God or a god toward humans.
- noun Christianity Charity.
- noun Sexual desire or activity.
- noun An instance of being in love.
- noun A person for whom one has strong feelings of affection.
- noun Used as a term of endearment for such a person.
- noun An intense emotional attachment to something, as to a pet or treasured object.
- noun An expression of one's affection.
- noun A strong predilection or enthusiasm.
- noun The object of such an enthusiasm.
- noun Mythology Eros or Cupid.
- noun Sports A score of zero, as in tennis.
- intransitive verb To feel love for (a person).
- intransitive verb To feel sexual love for (a person).
- intransitive verb To feel devotion to (God or a god).
- intransitive verb To feel or show kindness or concern to (a person). Used of God or a god.
- intransitive verb To have an intense emotional attachment to.
- intransitive verb To embrace or caress.
- intransitive verb To have sexual intercourse with.
- intransitive verb To like or desire enthusiastically.
- intransitive verb To thrive on; need.
- intransitive verb To feel love or sexual love for another.
- idiom (for love) Out of compassion; with no thought for a reward.
- idiom (for love or money) Under any circumstances. Usually used in negative sentences.
- idiom (for the love of) For the sake of; in consideration for.
- idiom (in love) Deeply or passionately enamored.
- idiom (in love) Highly or immoderately fond.
- idiom (no love lost) No affection; animosity.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To regard with a strong feeling of affection; hold dear; have a strong regard for.
- Specifically, to regard (one of the opposite sex) with the admiration and devotion characteristic of the sexual relation; be in love with.
- To have a strong liking, craving, or appetite for; like; take pleasure in; delight in: followed by a noun or an infinitive.
- To caress; show affection by caresses: a childish use of the word.
- To have strong affection; especially, to be passionately attached to one of the opposite sex.
- noun In Tasmania, the blue-creeper, Comesperma volubile.
- To praise; commend.
- To praise as of value; prize; set a price on.
- noun The principle of sympathetic or pleasurable attraction in sentient and thinking beings; that feeling of predilection or solicitude for, or delight in, certain individuals or classes, principles, qualities, or things, which excites a strong desire or craving for the welfare, companionship, possession, enjoyment, or promotion of its object or objects; the yearning desire (whether right or perverted) for what is thought to be best in any relation or from any point of view.
- noun Intimate personal affection between individuals of opposite sex capable of intermarriage; the emotional incentive to and normal basis of conjugal union: as, to be in love; to marry for love.
- noun A beloved person; an object of affectionate interest, as a sweetheart or a husband or wife: often also used in address as a term of endearment.
- noun [capitalized] A personification of the passion of love; sexual attraction imagined as an independent power external to its subject: applied especially to Cupid (more properly Amor) or Eros, the classical god of love, and more rarely to Venus or Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
- noun An embodiment or a representation of Cupid; one of a class of beings poetically imagined as devoted to the interests of lovers, and depicted as winged boys.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
The word love has been adopted in honor of Megan Kubicz. Help support Wordnik by adopting your own word here.
Examples
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May 19th, 2009 at 12:27 am love you fergie..you are beautiful..love you.
Casting Director’s No-Brainer: Fergie Cast As Prostitute | YepYep - Your Daily Waste Of Time 2008
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I mean HELL YES it was still hard to be there when he was with another woman but God tolerates far worse from me and for my love to be pure like Gods love
the-moo Diary Entry the-moo 2005
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I define love * also known as true love* to be a hoax.
lethalpickle Diary Entry lethalpickle 2004
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I have been madly, passionately in love with women that I didn't like as much as Barbara, but I was not _in love_ with her.
The Emerald Triangle Archer, Miles 2003
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I love with a _holy, spiritual love_, as new men who have my image stamped on, and my holy nature in you, and as you are made perfect by the comeliness and beauty I have put on you: so do you love one another, because you are a lovely and holy people unto me.
The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London
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I love you with a _warm and fervent love_: so do you love one another.
The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London
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Some women think they have love when _love has them_.
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My love to you is a _pitying, sparing, and forgiving love; a forbearing and tender-hearted love_: so must you be to one another, Col. iii.
The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London
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We can get the good of our disability by conscientiously driving home the principle that in order to 'love others as ourselves' we must learn to _love ourselves as we love others_.
Study of Child Life Marion Foster Washburne
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I love you with a _constant and unchangeable love_; notwithstanding of all your weaknesses, yea, unkindness too, and unworthy walkings before me: thus you are bound to love one another.
The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London
born2badored commented on the word love
see wuv
December 6, 2006
sonofgroucho commented on the word love
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen.
December 21, 2006
oroboros commented on the word love
...Consider the word "love". It has many meanings which we recognize as soon as we consider the difference between romantic love and conjugal love, the difference between the love that parents readily bestow upon their children and the love that children slowly develop for their parents. All these meanings of the word — all these kinds of love — have something in common. All are related aspects of a single, very large idea — the idea of love. But as most people employ the word in ordinary speech, they have only a small part of this idea in mind; and when young people use it they seldom have in mind the same part that older people have. Few who use the word ever have the whole idea in mind, for it takes a lifetime of experience and thought to comprehend it fully...
--excerpt from "What is an Idea", 1958, by Mortimer Adler
December 27, 2006
polymorph commented on the word love
For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.
-Charles Bukowski
April 8, 2007
muamor commented on the word love
This is hot.
June 24, 2007
oroboros commented on the word love
"...Love all things--not because it is your duty to do so, but because all things are worthy of your love. Hate nothing. Fear nothing. Have absolute faith. Whoso will do this is wise; he is more than wise--he is happy."
--Concluding paragraph: Man's Moral Nature, An Essay by Richard Maurice Bucke, M.D.
March 30, 2008
whichbe commented on the word love
See How 8-year-old Kids Describe Love.
May 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word love
The Love Attitude Scale (LAS), including movie and book examples of various types of love.
August 23, 2008
ellywong commented on the word love
hello
October 15, 2008
bilby commented on the word love
*quickly flips his League Of Villainous Entities membership card face down*
October 15, 2008
bilby commented on the word love
I Love Me, vol. I
October 18, 2008
catspringer commented on the word love
"Love, and do what you like." -- St. Augustine
March 2, 2009
lea commented on the word love
H♥me. Where ever it is. People who talk about love excessively are usually the ones who do not know a thing about it... ;o| That is my sad, personal, experience.
March 3, 2009
rolig commented on the word love
I always get this confused with vole. No wonder it's so hard finding keeping a boyfriend. But on the other hand, my cats are well-fed.
*Sings: "Lookin' for vole in all the wrong places…"*
March 3, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word love
You are single?! Men have such bad taste.
March 3, 2009
lea commented on the word love
Cat ladies are good to have around, rolig. ;o} I am going to join the club some day. (Hey you, rolig means fun/nice in swedish, so, if nomen est omen, you are going to be just fine...) Vole is a new word for me... Maybe your boyfriends have been voletile....? Hmmph. I got madeupical away, didn't I?
March 3, 2009
rolig commented on the word love
I didn't know that, Lea, that's really nice!
Pro, I only said that for the joke. I do have a lovely boyfriend, who's not at all volish. But it's true about the cats. They're well-fed.
March 3, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word love
Rolig also means calm in Danish.
March 3, 2009
rolig commented on the word love
calm and fun/nice, I like it. On the other hand, a Russian friend pronounces my name Ролик (Rólik), which means "ball bearing" in her language…
March 3, 2009
rolig commented on the word love
Lea, I just now noticed your pun! Voletile! Very nice.
March 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word love
"Like a thousand tiny ninjas attacking your brain"
June 1, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word love
Love has been looked up 3,947 times, favorited 16 times, listed 253 times, commented on 21 times, and has a Scrabble score of 7.
July 24, 2010
Prolagus commented on the word love
Love always wins.
(Cf. hate, hatred, and like.)
July 24, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word love
:-) Thank you, Prolagus.
July 24, 2010
marky commented on the word love
I don't understand what it is.
November 20, 2010
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word love
Who does?
November 20, 2010
yarb commented on the word love
I do. But I'm not telling you.
November 21, 2010
marky commented on the word love
lol. good answers ;)
November 21, 2010
milosrdenstvi commented on the word love
My whole life (meaning ever since I was nineteen) I have been trying to ascertain the quiddity of love. Obviously, such remains elusive.
November 21, 2010
brap-ting1 commented on the word love
what the hell are you? if you emo how do you know what love is? BRAPTING1
January 18, 2011
bilby commented on the word love
CD 20 prods me to snigger.
Make it stop!
March 21, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word love
That's exactly what I love about the Century Dictionary! Did you see CD 16?
March 21, 2011
writer723 commented on the word love
love:
–noun
A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person.
April 17, 2011
marky commented on the word love
anyone have a good definition? the definitions are horrid. I swear the definitions were written by the 'i like turtles' kid.
what. the. f___. is. love?
May 6, 2011
marky commented on the word love
just thinking outloud:
empathy from trust (honesty) || companionship (oneness) || understanding (compromise) || responsibility (support) || respect (admiration) || sex (passion) || entertainment (happiness)
can anyone expand on this?
May 6, 2011
alyssaly commented on the word love
A little difficult!~What do you think?
December 15, 2011
Tyanna commented on the word love
Have y'all analyzed the most commented on words yet? This one must be up there :-) ❤
February 2, 2012
Louises commented on the word love
Something's happened to me. I've stopped abstracting. this is love: you stop bothering about the universal, the general, get sucked instead into the local and particular: When will I see her again? What shall we do today? Do you like these shoes? Theory and reflection are delicate old uncles bustled out of the way by boisterous nephews action and desire. Themes evaporate, only plot remains. From "The Last Werewolf" by Glen Duncan.
I love this quote (pun intended) because unlike most of the definitions it emphasises that love is actually more commonly an active verb not just a passive experience or noun.
March 26, 2012
Vanessahot commented on the word love
www.real-pleasure.co.uk/massages best erotic massage
May 7, 2012
Vanessahot commented on the word love
http://www.real-pleasure.co.uk super girls for you visit my thank you
May 7, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word love
I just loved (or "favorited") this word, but only so I could add it to my recently-loved-words list.
February 6, 2013
deinonychus commented on the word love
Somehow that feels like cheating, but it can't really be since you make the rules for your list...
February 6, 2013
ruzuzu commented on the word love
If the truth is known, I do love love on its own merits.
I especially love this CD&C definition: "An old game in which one holds up one or more fingers, and another, without looking, guesses at the number."
Edit: I also love the one about the love-ribbon.
February 6, 2013
bilby commented on the word love
"In Tasmania, the blue creeper."
Urrghh. Why always me?
p.s. You'd have to allow for half-finger guesses given the extent of the sawmill industry around here.
February 6, 2013
bribri7103 commented on the word love
I am in love with Brennan Walton!
May 6, 2015
alexz commented on the word love
Looked up over 69k times.
April 24, 2017
hasenmesfin123 commented on the word love
Woow
September 15, 2020
orangefingers commented on the word love
megan
August 9, 2024