love
/lʌv/
noun
Origin
Proto-Indo-European
*leubh- — to care, desire, love
Overview
Meaning Now
- An intense feeling of deep affection, passion, or devotion.
- A person or thing that one greatly enjoys or finds pleasure in.
- A score of zero in tennis.
Language path
Proto-Indo-European → Proto-Germanic → Old English → Middle English → English
Earliest form
lufu
Earliest period
Old English
Journey
The word traces back to a PIE root that also gave rise to words for 'belief' and 'dear' (liube in Proto-Germanic), suggesting a semantic link between affection, trust, and valuing something.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*leubh-
“to care or desire”
Root for care and love.
- Proto-Germanic
*lubo
“love, affection”
- Old English
lufu
“love, affection, friendliness”
- Middle English
love
“love, passion”
- English
love
“deep affection”
Connections
Word parts
love
root
affection
Related across languages
German
Liebe
love
Dutch
liefde
love
Old Norse
ljúfr
dear
Related words
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Related to love
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.