loved

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of love.

   He loved the quiet mornings before the rest of the house woke up.

   She had loved that little farmhouse since she was a child.

   Note

   Two Old English forms meet in this one spelling: lufode, the past tense of lufian, and ġelufod, its past participle, whose prefix survived for a while in Middle English iloved before wearing away. The single form now does both jobs: alone in the simple past (she loved it), after have in the perfect (she had loved it), and after be in the passive (it was loved).

2. 2
   adjective

   Held as the object of someone's love or deep affection.

   He was a deeply loved teacher whose former students still wrote to him.

   She felt loved and supported throughout the long months of her recovery.

   Similarbeloved, cherished, treasured, dear

   Oppositeunloved, hated, unwanted, despised

   Note

   Here the participle has settled into a describing word. It names a lasting state rather than an act, so it can be graded with more and most (the most loved song on the album). It also follows feel and seem, which no plain passive of the past participle can do. Degree adverbs cling to it: deeply, dearly, much. Before a noun the pairing is often hyphenated, as in a much-loved teacher.

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