# love

Pronunciation: say "LUV" /lʌv/

## Verb

1. To feel deep affection for someone or something and care about their good.
   - Simple: To care very much about someone or something.
   - _They love the old farmhouse despite its leaky roof._
   - _After years of loss, he found it hard to love again._
2. To like or enjoy something very much, including a fact or situation (sometimes said ironically of something unwelcome).
   - Simple: To like something very much.
   - _Honestly, I love a good thunderstorm._
   - _Tourists love the little cafés along the river._
11. To need certain conditions or treatment and thrive on them.
   - Simple: To need something and do really well with it.
   - _Roses love a sunny spot with rich, well-drained soil._
   - _Cast-iron pans love a light coat of oil after each wash._
13. To mark an online post, photo, or comment with a heart icon as a quick sign of approval.
   - Simple: To tap the heart button on a post online to show you like it.
   - _Three of her coworkers loved the photo within minutes of her posting it._
   - _The app lets you love a comment without having to write a reply._
15. A tender, indirect way of saying to have sexual intercourse with someone.
   - Simple: A gentle way of saying to have sex with someone.
   - _He loved her tenderly in the dim lamplight._
   - _"Come to bed and let me love you," she whispered._

## Noun

3. A strong romantic or sexual attraction to another person.
   - Simple: A strong romantic or sexual feeling for someone.
   - _He felt a rush of love for her as she walked into the room._
   - _Their love deepened as they got to know each other._
4. A deep feeling of affection and care for another person or living being and their well-being.
   - Simple: A strong, warm feeling of caring about someone, like a parent's feeling for a child.
   - _Their love for the community showed in every meal they shared._
   - _A nurse's love for her patients can ease even the hardest days._
5. A deep, lasting liking for something, or enthusiasm for it.
   - Simple: A strong liking or excitement for something you enjoy.
   - _His lifelong love of astronomy filled the house with telescopes._
   - _Their love of cooking turned every dinner into an experiment._
6. A person who is the object of one's romantic feelings; a sweetheart or darling.
   - Simple: A person that you have romantic feelings for.
   - _He surprised his love with flowers on their anniversary._
   - _She kept a photograph of her first love tucked in her wallet._
7. A period or episode of being in love; a romantic affair.
   - Simple: A time when someone is in love, or a romantic relationship.
   - _Their summer love ended when they went back to college._
   - _She had one brief, intense love in college, and it was over before the spring semester ended._
8. A warm sign-off written before the signature of a letter, especially among friends, family, or the young.
   - Simple: A warm word written at the end of a letter, before your name.
   - _Her letters home always closed with 'Love' written above her name._
   - _The birthday card was signed 'Love, Dad' in shaky handwriting._
9. A score of zero, used in tennis and other racquet sports.
   - Simple: A score of zero in tennis and some other games.
   - _The champion held serve to love throughout the first set._
   - _She trailed forty-love before mounting a comeback._
10. A thing, activity, or pursuit that is the object of one's deep liking or enthusiasm.
   - Simple: An activity or thing that someone likes very much or feels excited about.
   - _Painting had always been his one true love._
   - _The theater became the great love of her later years._
12. A friendly term of address used toward someone regardless of one's actual feelings for them. *(colloquial, Commonwealth)*
   - Simple: A friendly word used to speak to someone, even a stranger.
   - _Take a seat, love, and I'll be right with you._
   - _Thanks, love, see you next week._
14. Sexual activity, especially as engaged in between partners.
   - Simple: The act of having sex.
   - _The novel describes their love in frank, physical detail._
   - _Exhausted from a night of love, they slept past noon._
16. The absence of payment or reward; work done for its own sake rather than for money.
   - Simple: No pay or reward, done for free instead of for money.
   - _Volunteers run the shelter for love alone, expecting nothing in return._
   - _He restored the old organ for love, refusing any fee._

## Noun

17. A thin, semi-transparent silk fabric of fine, gauze-like weave. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A kind of thin silk cloth.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A climbing plant, Clematis vitalba, known for its feathery white seed heads.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–8, 10–15, 17** — The noun comes from Middle English 'love', from Old English 'lufu', from Proto-Germanic *lubō and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *lewbʰ- ('love, care, desire'). The verb comes from Old English 'lufian' ('to love'), derived from the noun. It is related to Dutch 'liefde', German 'Liebe', and Latin 'libido' ('desire'), among many others.
**Meanings 9, 16** — The 'zero' sense is now widely believed to come from the idea that doing something 'for love' is done for no monetary gain, so 'love' implies 'nothing'. An earlier theory that it came from French 'l'œuf' ('the egg'), because an egg's shape resembles a zero, has largely been discredited, though similar egg-to-zero analogies survive, such as 'duck's egg' and 'goose egg'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/love (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).