I. ˈləv noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English lufu; akin to Old High German lupa love, Old English lēof dear, Latin lubēre, libēre to please, Sanskrit lubhyati he desires
1.
a. : the attraction, desire, or affection felt for a person who arouses delight or admiration or elicits tenderness, sympathetic interest, or benevolence : devoted affection
a mother's love for her child
b. : an assurance of love
give my love to your father when you get home
2.
a. : warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion (as to a pursuit or a concrete or ideal object)
inherited his father's love of the sea — G.H.Burnham
just so much instruction in Latin as would suffice to show which boys and girls had a love of the subject — Bertrand Russell
b. : the object of such attachment or devotion
a born crusader and his love was language — Charlton Laird
events and people are his love , festivals, law terms, battles, licences, royalty — but especially people — G.W.Stonier
3.
a. : the benevolence attributed to God as resembling a father's affection for his children
b. : men's adoration of God in gratitude or devotion
4.
a. : the attraction based on sexual desire : the affection and tenderness felt by lovers
the entrance of love into sex life … was an advance along the road of human civilization as important as the emancipation of slaves — Theodor Reik
his love had been woven of sentiment rather than passion — Ellen Glasgow
b. : a god or personification of love (as Cupid, Amor, or Eros) or a figured representation of one (as in art of imaginative conception)
on the other side a Love with a flaring torch and head averted — S.T.Coleridge
c. : an amorous episode : amour , love affair
tremendous curiosity about her jealously guarded life and loves — Bosley Crowther
d. : the sexual embrace : copulation
many cocottes pay their coachmen either partly or wholly in love — Arnold Bennett
5. : a beloved person : darling , dear , sweetheart — often used as an endearment
come on, love , let's go in and see what's doing — Lilian Balch
6. obsolete : a thin silk fabric formerly worn in token of mourning or a border made of this stuff
7. : a score of zero in tennis and some other games : nothing
if the server wins the first point, the score is fifteen- love — Clement Wood & Gloria Goddard
opened the match with a love victory on his own service — New York Times
8. capitalized , Christian Science : god
9. : a delightful or superb example, instance, or occurrence
we had a perfect love of a sounding-boat — Mark Twain
it's a love , isn't it — Marguerite Steen
Synonyms: see attachment
•
- for love
- for love or money
- in love
- of all love
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English loven, from Old English lufian; akin to Old High German lubōn to love; denominative from the root of English love (I)
transitive verb
1. : to feel affection for : hold dear : cherish
the lonely and ailing old bachelors and widowers … all love her — G.S.Perry
2.
a. : to feel a lover's passion, devotion, or tenderness for
loved his wife devotedly — Ruth P. Randall
b. : to engage in sex play — sometimes used with up
c. : to copulate with
3.
a. : to cherish or foster with divine love and mercy
I have loved you with an everlasting love — Jer 31:3 (Revised Standard Version)
b. : to feel reverent adoration for (God)
but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments — Exod 20:6 (Revised Standard Version)
4.
a. : to like or desire actively : be strongly attracted or attached to : delight in
the sculptor must love the feel of stone — Leslie Rees
he loves the limelight — Eudora Welty
some leading social scientists love their IBM machines too much — C.K.Kluckhohn
b. : to take pleasure or satisfaction in : like — used with an infinitive as object
loved to indulge his grief in true romantic fashion — J.W.Beach
the poor folk would still love to emigrate to the U.S. — Frank Gorrell
5. : fondle , caress
mother nuzzled my cheek and throat and I loved her back
6. : to thrive in : prefer — used of plants and animals
the rose loves sunlight
central Asian wild pheasants love impenetrable jungles — Douglas Carruthers
7. : choose , prefer , like
would love to have some lemonade
intransitive verb
: to feel affection or experience desire
the poet must learn to love before he can begin to hate — C.D.Lewis
Synonyms: see like
III.
Usage: usually capitalized
— a communications code word for the letter l