love

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   sexual activities, often including sexual intercourse, between two people

   Their lovemaking disgusted their partner.

2. 2
   noun

   any object of warm affection or devotion

   The theater is their first love.

3. 3
   noun

   a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction

   their love left them indifferent to their surroundings

4. 4
   noun

   a strong positive emotion of regard and affection

   Their love for their family.

5. 5
   noun

   a score of zero in tennis or squash

   it was 40 love

6. 6
   verb

   have a great affection or liking for

   I love French food

7. 7
   verb

   be enamored or in love with

   I love you deeply.

8. 8
   verb

   get pleasure from

   I love cooking

Etymology

From Middle English love, luve, from Old English lufu, from Proto-West Germanic *lubu, from Proto-Germanic *lubō, from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“love, care, desire”). The close of a letter sense is presumably a truncation of With love or the like. The verb is from Middle English loven, luvien, from Old English lufian (“to love”), from Proto-West Germanic *lubōn (“to love”), derived from the noun. Eclipsed non-native English amour (“love”), borrowed from Norman amour (“love”). Cognates Cognate with Scots luve (“love”), Saterland Frisian ljo, ljoo, ljoof (“dear, sweet”), Ljoote, Ljoowe (“lov…