de ‧ vo ‧ tion AC /dɪˈvəʊʃ ə n $ -ˈvoʊ-/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: verb : ↑ devote ; noun : ↑ devotion ; adverb : ↑ devotedly ; adjective : ↑ devoted ]
1 . [uncountable] the strong love that you show when you pay a lot of attention to someone or something
devotion to
Alanna has always shown intense devotion to her children.
2 . [uncountable] the loyalty that you show towards a person, job etc, especially by working hard ⇨ dedication
devotion to
the soldier’s courage and devotion to duty
his integrity and devotion to his patients
3 . [uncountable] strong religious feeling
4 . devotions [plural] prayers and other religious acts
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THESAURUS
▪ love noun [uncountable] a feeling of liking someone very much and caring a lot about them – used about people in your family, or someone you feel sexually attracted to:
All children need love, attention, and encouragement.
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We don’t need words to express our love for each other.
▪ affection noun [uncountable] a gentle feeling of love which makes you want to be kind to someone and show them that you love them – used especially about friends and members of your family:
My mother never showed us us any affection.
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Alison and I had been at school together, and I felt great affection for her.
▪ devotion noun [uncountable] very strong love for someone in which you want to give them a lot of attention and look after them – used especially about strong feelings of love for your wife, husband, children etc:
His recovery is largely due to the devotion of his wife and family
▪ passion noun [uncountable] a strong and exciting feeling of love for someone you are extremely sexually attracted to:
He loved her still, with just the same passion as he always had.
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There was no passion in their relationship.
▪ infatuation noun [uncountable and countable] a strong feeling of love for someone, in which you cannot stop thinking about them, and which seems silly because you do not know them very well:
She hoped that his ridiculous infatuation would soon wear off.
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His infatuation with Diane seemed to be growing.
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a childhood infatuation
▪ romance noun [uncountable] the feeling of loving someone and the nice things you do to show this – used about someone you are sexually attracted to:
The romance had gone out of their relationship.
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In the UK, one in ten people have found romance over the Internet.
▪ crush noun [countable] a very strong feeling of love and sexual attraction for someone such as a teacher or a famous person, especially when there is no chance of you having a relationship with that person because you are much younger than them :
She had a teenage crush on one of her teachers.
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I had a big crush on Tom Cruise when I was growing up.
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a schoolgirl crush