# love

> English word · Noun · IPA /lʌv/ · frequency rank #147

## Definitions
1. A deep caring for the existence of another.
2. Strong affection.
3. Strong affection.
4. Strong affection.
5. Strong affection.
6. A person who is the object of romantic feelings; a darling, a sweetheart, a beloved.
7. A term of friendly address, regardless of feelings.
8. A thing, activity, etc. which is the object of one's deep liking or enthusiasm.
9. Sexual desire; attachment based on sexual attraction.
10. Sexual activity.
11. An instance or episode of being in love; a love affair.
12. Used as the closing, before the signature, of a letter, especially between good friends or family members, or by the young.
13. Alternative letter-case form of Love (“personification of love”).
14. A thin silk material.
15. A climbing plant, Clematis vitalba.

## 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 (“love”), West Frisian leaf (“friendly, kind, cordial”), leafde (“love”), Dutch lief (“lovely, nice, sweet”), liefde (“love”), German lieb (“dear; lovable”), Liebe (“love”), German Low German Leevde, Lieve (“love”), Luxembourgish léif (“lovely, kind, nice, sweet”), Léift (“love”), Vilamovian łiwa (“love”), Yiddish ליב (lib, “nice; kind”), Icelandic ljúfur (“beloved, dear”), Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish ljuv (“lovely, sweet”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃 (liufs, “beloved, dear”), Albanian lyp (“to beg”), Russian любовь (ljubovʹ, “love”), Lithuanian liaupsė (“praise”), Latin libido (“desire, lust”), Polish lubić (“to like”), Persian آلفتن (âloftan, “to enamor”), Sanskrit लोभ (lobha, “desire, greed”).

## Easily confused with
- **LV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lv)
- **low** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-low)
- **luv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-luv)
- **lye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lye)
- **lox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lox)
- **loy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-loy)
- **Luke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-luke)
- **lure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lure)
- **lowe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lowe)
- **Lyle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lyle)
- **Lyme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lyme)
- **lube** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lube)
- **luce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-luce)
- **luxe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-luxe)
- **Lupe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lupe)
- **lute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lute)
- **luge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-luge)
- **lyre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lyre)
- **lower** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-lower)
- **loved** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/love-vs-loved)

## Common misspellings (5)
`llove`, `loev`, `lovve`, `lvoe`, `olve`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/love