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love

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Dictionary: love   (lŭv) pronunciation
 
n.
  1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
  2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance.
    1. Sexual passion.
    2. Sexual intercourse.
    3. A love affair.
  3. An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object.
  4. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment.
  5. An expression of one's affection: Send him my love.
    1. A strong predilection or enthusiasm: a love of language.
    2. The object of such an enthusiasm: The outdoors is her greatest love.
  6. Love Mythology. Eros or Cupid.
  7. often Love Christianity. Charity.
  8. Sports. A zero score in tennis.

v., loved, lov·ing, loves.

v.tr.
  1. To have a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward (a person): We love our parents. I love my friends.
  2. To have a feeling of intense desire and attraction toward (a person).
  3. To have an intense emotional attachment to: loves his house.
    1. To embrace or caress.
    2. To have sexual intercourse with.
  4. To like or desire enthusiastically: loves swimming.
  5. Theology. To have charity for.
  6. To thrive on; need: The cactus loves hot, dry air.
v.intr.

To experience deep affection or intense desire for another.

idioms:

for love

  1. Out of compassion; with no thought for a reward: She volunteers at the hospital for love.
for love or money
  1. Under any circumstances. Usually used in negative sentences: I would not do that for love or money.
for the love of
  1. For the sake of; in consideration for: did it all for the love of praise.
in love
  1. Deeply or passionately enamored: a young couple in love.
  2. Highly or immoderately fond: in love with Japanese painting; in love with the sound of her own voice.
no love lost
  1. No affection; animosity: There's no love lost between them.

[Middle English, from Old English lufu.]

SYNONYMS  love, affection, devotion, fondness, infatuation. These nouns denote feelings of warm personal attachment or strong attraction to another person. Love is the most intense: marrying for love. Affection is a less ardent and more unvarying feeling of tender regard: parental affection. Devotion is earnest, affectionate dedication and implies selflessness: teachers admired for their devotion to children. Fondness is strong liking or affection: a fondness for small animals. Infatuation is foolish or extravagant attraction, often of short duration: lovers blinded to their differences by their mutual infatuation.


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Thesaurus: love
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noun

  1. Deep and ardent affection: adoration, devotion, worship. See like/dislike, love/hatred.
  2. The passionate affection and desire felt by lovers for each other: amorousness, fancy, passion, romance. See love/hatred, sex/asexual.
  3. An intimate sexual relationship between two people: affair, amour, love affair, romance. See love/hatred, sex/asexual.
  4. The condition of being closely tied to another by affection or faith: affection, attachment, devotion, fondness, liking, loyalty (used in plural). See connect.
  5. A person who is much loved: beloved, darling, dear, honey, minion, precious, sweet, sweetheart, truelove. Informal sweetie. Idioms: light of one's life. See love/hatred.
  6. A strong, enthusiastic liking for something: love affair, passion, romance. See love/hatred.

verb

  1. To feel deep, devoted love for: adore, worship. See love/hatred.
  2. To like or enjoy enthusiastically, often excessively: adore, delight (in), dote on (or upon). Slang eat up, groove on. See like/dislike, love/hatred.

 
Antonyms: love
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n

Definition: adoration; very strong liking
Antonyms: dislike, hate, hatred

v

Definition: adore, like very much
Antonyms: dislike, hate, scorn

v

Definition: have sexual relations
Antonyms: abstain


 

In Greek thought, eros connotes desire, longing, disequilibrium, and is generally sexual in nature. However, in Plato (especially the Symposium and Phaedrus), although eros may start with a particular person as its object, it soon becomes transferred from the particular person to their beauty (a characteristic that in principle another person could possess to the same or a greater degree), and finally it gravitates towards immaterial objects such as the form of beauty itself. The desire for immaterial beauty is a kind of recollection of the vision of forms (such as those of justice, wisdom, and knowledge) that the soul was able to perceive on the ‘plains of truth’ in its previous life. Bodily beauty induces remembrance of this state, anamnesis, and enables the soul to begin to climb the ladder back to spiritual truth. The philosopher, the poet, the lover, and the follower of the muses (or creative artist) are all inspired by the divine power of eros, which dictates the passionate pursuit of the truly real, pure intellectual light, through beauty, wisdom, and the arts of the muses. It is not often recorded how persons who believe themselves to be beloved are supposed to react to these fleshless rivals, although Dante's Beatrice is the principal example of a beloved person both initiating and then conducting a spiritual ascent of this kind. Unfortunately, however, before conducting Dante up to the highest circles of Paradise, she has to be dead. The idea of beauty as the visible trigger of a spiritual ascent was transmitted to the medieval world through Neoplatonism, and especially the City of God of Augustine.

Philia in Greek thought is more akin to friendship, and includes fondness and desire for the good of another. In Aristotle, quite stringent conditions are required for reciprocal and recognized philia: familiarity, virtue, and equality. Agapē is the Christian addition to the forms of affection here recognized, and suggests a less focused, universal benevolence that pays little or no regard to reciprocity. See also apathy, sex.

 
Psychoanalysis: Love
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From a psychoanalytic point of view, love is the investment in, and ability to be loved by, another without experiencing this love as a subjective threat, such as that represented by the Thing (das Ding) which Freud described in the Project of 1895. For psychoanalysis the genesis of the love investment must be taken into consideration and the very different modalities through which it manifests itself must be identified.

It is important to differentiate love from infatuation or being in love (Verliebtheit), which is associated with a pathological feeling (Leidenschaft): "That the state of being in love (Verliebtheit) manifests itself abnormally can be explained by the fact that other amorous states outside the analytic cure resemble abnormal rather than normal psychic phenomena" (1915a). Being in love is essentially marked by an overestimation of the love object and a devaluation of the self that resembles the condition of melancholia (1921c).

The genesis of love begins with the oral relation of the infant's mouth and the mother's breast: "The picture of the child at the mother's breast has become the model of all sexual relations" (1905d). Also, in choosing an object later in life, the child will attempt "to reestablish this lost happiness" (1905d). But this happiness, even if it is marked by this choice of a primary infantile object, must later reunite and conjoin two libidinal currents, the tender current arising from infantile cathexis and the sensual current that appears during puberty, "The man will leave his mother and father—as the Bible indicates—and will follow his wife—tenderness and sensuality are therefore reunited" (1912d). This can only occur through the loss of the infantile object choice: "The individual human must devote himself to the difficult task of separating from his parents," as Freud indicated in the twenty-first of the Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (1916-1917a [1915-16]). Yet, in "On the Universal Tendency to Debasement in the Sphere of Love" (1912d), Freud recalls the difficulty of loving and the numerous splits that remain: "When they love, they do not desire, and when they desire, they cannot love."

In "Instincts and their Vicissitudes" (1915c), he examines the different splits and oppositions in which love plays a role; these are: loving/hating, loving/being loved, and loving and hating together in opposition to the state of indifference. The pair loving/hating is related to the pleasure/unpleasure polarity; the ego interjects pleasure and expels unpleasure, which is transformed into the opposition ego-pleasure/exterior world-unpleasure. Thus, hatred and the rejection of the exterior world emanate from the narcissistic ego. The pair loving/being loved originates in the reversal of an impulse into its opposite, of activity into passivity, and corresponds to the narcissism of self-love. The pair love/indifference is associated with the polarity ego/exterior world. We love the "object that dispenses pleasure" and we repeat "the original flight before the exterior world" (1926d) in the face of an object that does not dispense pleasure. In this way the intellectual economy of love is profoundly affected by these different forms of ambivalence.

Bibliography

Freud, Sigmund. (1905d). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. SE, 7: 123-243.

——. (1912d). On the universal tendency to debasement in the sphere of love. SE, 11: 177-190.

——. (1915a). Observations on transference-love: technique of psycho-analysis. SE, 12: 157-171.

——. (1921c). Group psychology and the analysis of the ego. SE, 18: 65-143.

——. (1926d). Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety. SE, 20: 75-172.

Further Reading

Gabbard, Glen. (1996). Love and hate in the analytic setting. Northvale, NJ: Aronson, Inc.

Kernberg, Otto. (1995). Love relations. Normality and pathology. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Lear, Jonathan. (1990). Love and its place in nature: A philosophical interpretation of freudian psychoanalysis. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

—JACQUES SÉDAT

 
A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. This disease, like caries and many other ailments, is prevalent only among civilized races living under artificial conditions; barbarous nations breathing pure air and eating simple food enjoy immunity from its ravages. It is sometimes fatal, but more frequently to the physician than to the patient.


 
Word Tutor: love
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: A deep and tender feeling of fondness and devotion.

pronunciation Shower the people you love with love. — James Taylor.

 
Quotes About: Love
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Quotes:

"We don't believe in rheumatism and true love until after the first attack." - Marie E. Eschenbach

"Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." - Robert Frost

"Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence." - Erich Fromm

"Love is often nothing but a favorable exchange between two people who get the most of what they can expect, considering their value on the personality market." - Erich Fromm

"Well, love is insanity. The ancient Greeks knew that. It is the taking over of a rational and lucid mind by delusion and self-destruction. You lose yourself, you have no power over yourself, you can't even think straight." - Marilyn French

"But I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things." - Vincent Van Gogh

See more famous quotes about Love

 
Wikipedia: Love
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The stylized heart symbol is a traditional European icon representing love.

Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection[1] and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my boyfriend"). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.

Love is an extremely powerful emotion; it can be irresistible and people are often bound to pursue their love interests. Love is a major theme in literature, poetry, and film.

As an abstract concept, love usually refers to a deep, ineffable feeling of tenderly caring for another person. Even this limited conception of love, however, encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love to the nonsexual emotional closeness of familial and platonic love[2] to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.[3] Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

Contents

Definitions

The English word "love" can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Often, other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that English relies mainly on "love" to encapsulate; one example is the plurality of Greek words for "love." Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus make it doubly difficult to establish any universal definition.[4]

Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn't love. As a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is commonly contrasted with friendship, although other definitions of the word love may be applied to close friendships in certain contexts.

When discussed in the abstract, love usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience felt by a person for another person. Love often involves caring for or identifying with a person or thing, including oneself (cf. narcissism).

In addition to cross-cultural differences in understanding love, ideas about love have also changed greatly over time. Some historians date modern conceptions of romantic love to courtly Europe during or after the Middle Ages, although the prior existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry.[5]

Because of the complex and abstract nature of love, discourse on love is commonly reduced to a thought-terminating cliché, and there are a number of common proverbs regarding love, from Virgil's "Love conquers all" to the Beatles' "All you need is love." Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of "absolute value," as opposed to relative value. Theologian Thomas Jay Oord said that to love is to "act intentionally, in sympathetic response to others, to promote overall well-being."[citation needed] Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz said that love is "to be delighted by the happiness of another."[6]

Impersonal love

A person can be said to love a country, principle, or goal if they value it greatly and are deeply committed to it. Similarly, compassionate outreach and volunteer workers' "love" of their cause may sometimes be borne not of interpersonal love, but impersonal love coupled with altruism and strong political convictions. People can also "love" material objects, animals, or activities if they invest themselves in bonding or otherwise identifying with those things. If sexual passion is also involved, this condition is called paraphilia.[7]

Interpersonal love

Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a more potent sentiment than a simple liking for another. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love that are not reciprocated. Interpersonal love is most closely associated with interpersonal relationships. Such love might exist between family members, friends, and couples. There are also a number of psychological disorders related to love, such as erotomania.

Throughout history, philosophy and religion have done the most speculation on the phenomenon of love. In the last century, the science of psychology has written a great deal on the subject. In recent years, the sciences of evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have added to the understanding of the nature and function of love.

Chemical basis

Simplistic overview of the chemical basis of love.

Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst.[8] Helen Fisher, a leading expert in the topic of love, divides the experience of love into three partly overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust exposes people to others; romantic attraction encourages people to focus their energy on mating; and attachment involves tolerating the spouse (or indeed the child) long enough to rear a child into infancy.

Lust is the initial passionate sexual desire that promotes mating, and involves the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen. These effects rarely last more than a few weeks or months. Attraction is the more individualized and romantic desire for a specific candidate for mating, which develops out of lust as commitment to an individual mate forms. Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which act in a manner similar to amphetamines, stimulating the brain's pleasure center and leading to side effects such as increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. Research has indicated that this stage generally lasts from one and a half to three years.[9]

Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, a third stage is needed to account for long-term relationships. Attachment is the bonding that promotes relationships lasting for many years and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or on mutual friendship based on things like shared interests. It has been linked to higher levels of the chemicals oxytocin and vasopressin to a greater degree than short-term relationships have.[9]

The protein molecule known as the nerve growth factor (NGF) has high levels when people first fall in love, but these return to previous levels after one year. [10]

Psychological basis

Grandmother and grandchild,
Sri Lanka.

Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg formulated a triangular theory of love and argued that love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion. Intimacy is a form in which two people share confidences and various details of their personal lives, and is usually shown in friendships and romantic love affairs. Commitment, on the other hand, is the expectation that the relationship is permanent. The last and most common form of love is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in infatuation as well as romantic love. All forms of love are viewed as varying combinations of these three components. American psychologist Zick Rubin seeks to define love by psychometrics. His work states that three factors constitute love: attachment, caring, and intimacy.[11] [12]

Fraternal love (Prehispanic sculpture from 250–900 A.D., of Huastec origin). Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.

Following developments in electrical theories such as Coulomb's law, which showed that positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human life were developed, such as "opposites attract." Over the last century, research on the nature of human mating has generally found this not to be true when it comes to character and personality—people tend to like people similar to themselves. However, in a few unusual and specific domains, such as immune systems, it seems that humans prefer others who are unlike themselves (e.g., with an orthogonal immune system), since this will lead to a baby that has the best of both worlds.[13] In recent years, various human bonding theories have been developed, described in terms of attachments, ties, bonds, and affinities.

Some Western authorities disaggregate into two main components, the altruistic and the narcissistic. This view is represented in the works of Scott Peck, whose work in the field of applied psychology explored the definitions of love and evil. Peck maintains that love is a combination of the "concern for the spiritual growth of another," and simple narcissism.[14] In combination, love is an activity, not simply a feeling.

Sacred Love Versus Profane Love (1602–03) by Giovanni Baglione.

Comparison of scientific models

Biological models of love tend to see it as a mammalian drive, similar to hunger or thirst.[8] Psychology sees love as more of a social and cultural phenomenon. There are probably elements of truth in both views. Certainly love is influenced by hormones (such as oxytocin), neurotrophins (such as NGF), and pheromones, and how people think and behave in love is influenced by their conceptions of love. The conventional view in biology is that there are two major drives in love: sexual attraction and attachment. Attachment between adults is presumed to work on the same principles that lead an infant to become attached to its mother. The traditional psychological view sees love as being a combination of companionate love and passionate love. Passionate love is intense longing, and is often accompanied by physiological arousal (shortness of breath, rapid heart rate); companionate love is affection and a feeling of intimacy not accompanied by physiological arousal.

Studies have shown that brain scans of those infatuated by love display a resemblance to those with a mental illness. Love creates activity in the same area of the brain where hunger, thirst, and drug cravings create activity. New love, therefore, could possibly be more physical than emotional. Over time, this reaction to love mellows, and different areas of the brain are activated, primarily ones involving long-term commitments. Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist, suggests that this reaction to love is so similar to that of drugs because without love, humanity would die out.[citation needed]

Cultural views

Persian

Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth, "You owe me."
Look what happens with a Love like that!
It lights the whole Sky. (Hafiz)

Rumi, Hafez and Sa'di are icons of the passion and love that the Persian culture and language present. The Persian word for love is eshgh, deriving from the Arabic ishq. In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love, starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventually reaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life. Over seven centuries ago, Sa'di wrote:

The children of Adam are limbs of one body
Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time afflicts one limb
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others
You are not worthy to be called by the name of "man."

Chinese and other Sinic cultures

The traditional Chinese character for love (愛) consists of a heart (middle) inside of "accept," "feel," or "perceive," which shows a graceful emotion.

In contemporary Chinese language and culture, several terms or root words are used for the concept of love:

  • It was the first name of the Qing emperor.
  • Ai (愛) is used as a verb (e.g., Wo ai ni, "I love you") or as a noun, especially in aiqing (愛情), "love" or "romance." In mainland China since 1949, airen (愛人, originally "lover," or more literally, "love person") is the dominant word for "spouse" (with separate terms for "wife" and "husband" originally being de-emphasized); the word once had a negative connotation, which it retains among many in Taiwan.
  • Lian (戀) is not generally used alone, but instead as part of such terms as "being in love" (談戀愛, tan lian'ai—also containing ai), "lover" (戀人, lianren) or "homosexuality" (同性戀, tongxinglian).
  • Qing (情), commonly meaning "feeling" or "emotion," often indicates "love" in several terms. It is contained in the word aiqing (愛情); qingren (情人) is a term for "lover."

In Confucianism, lian is a virtuous benevolent love. Lian should be pursued by all human beings, and reflects a moral life. The Chinese philosopher Mozi developed the concept of ai (愛) in reaction to Confucian lian. Ai, in Mohism, is universal love towards all beings, not just towards friends or family, without regard to reciprocation. Extravagance and offensive war are inimical to ai. Although Mozi's thought was influential, the Confucian lian is how most Chinese conceive of love.

Gănqíng (感情) is the "feeling" of a relationship, vaguely similar to empathy. A person will express love by building good gănqíng, accomplished through helping or working for another and emotional attachment toward another person or anything.

Yuanfen (緣份) is a connection of bound destinies. A meaningful relationship is often conceived of as dependent on strong yuanfen. It is very similar to serendipity. A similar conceptualization in English is, "They were made for each other," "fate," or "destiny."

Zaolian (Simplified: 早恋, Traditional: 早戀, pinyin: zǎoliàn), literally "early love," is a contemporary term in frequent use for romantic feelings or attachments among children or adolescents. Zaolian describes both relationships among a teenage boyfriend and girlfriend as well as the "crushes" of early adolescence or childhood. The concept essentially indicates a prevalent belief in contemporary Chinese culture, which is that, due to the demands of their studies (especially true in the highly competitive educational system of China), youth should not form romantic attachments lest they jeopardize their chances for future success. Reports have appeared in Chinese newspapers and other media detailing the prevalence of the phenomenon and its perceived dangers to students and the fears of parents.

Japanese

In Japanese Buddhism, ai (愛) is passionate caring love, and a fundamental desire. It can develop towards either selfishness or selflessness and enlightenment.

Amae (甘え), a Japanese word meaning "indulgent dependence," is part of the child-rearing culture of Japan. Japanese mothers are expected to hug and indulge their children, and children are expected to reward their mothers by clinging and serving. Some sociologists have suggested that Japanese social interactions in later life are modeled on the mother-child amae.

Ancient Greek

Greek distinguishes several different senses in which the word "love" is used. For example, Ancient Greek has the words philia, eros, agape, storge, and xenia. However, with Greek (as with many other languages), it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words totally. At the same time, the Ancient Greek text of the Bible has examples of the verb agapo having the same meaning as phileo.

Agape (ἀγάπη agápē) means love in modern-day Greek. The term s'agapo means I love you in Greek. The word agapo is the verb I love. It generally refers to a "pure," ideal type of love, rather than the physical attraction suggested by eros. However, there are some examples of agape used to mean the same as eros. It has also been translated as "love of the soul."

Eros (ἔρως érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Greek word erota means in love. Plato refined his own definition. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. Eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth by eros. Some translations list it as "love of the body."

Philia (φιλία philía), a dispassionate virtuous love, was a concept developed by Aristotle. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality, and familiarity. Philia is motivated by practical reasons; one or both of the parties benefit from the relationship. It can also mean "love of the mind."

Storge (στοργή storgē) is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring.

Xenia (ξενία xenía), hospitality, was an extremely important practice in Ancient Greece. It was an almost ritualized friendship formed between a host and his guest, who could previously have been strangers. The host fed and provided quarters for the guest, who was expected to repay only with gratitude. The importance of this can be seen throughout Greek mythology—in particular, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

Turkish (Shaman & Islamic)

In Turkish, the word "love" comes up with several meanings. A person can love a god, a person, parents, or family. But that person can "love" just one person from the opposite sex, which they call the word "aşk." Aşk is a feeling for to love, as it still is in Turkish today. The Turks used this word just for their loves in a romantic or sexual sense. If a Turk says that he is in love (aşk) with somebody, it is not a love that a person can feel for his or her parents; it is just for one person, and it indicates a huge infatuation. The word is also common for Turkic languages, such as Azerbaijani (eşq) and Kazakh (ғашық).

Ancient Roman (Latin)

The Latin language has several different verbs corresponding to the English word "love."

Amāre is the basic word for to love, as it still is in Italian today. The Romans used it both in an affectionate sense as well as in a romantic or sexual sense. From this verb come amans—a lover, amator, "professional lover," often with the accessory notion of lechery—and amica, "girlfriend" in the English sense, often as well being applied euphemistically to a prostitute. The corresponding noun is amor, which is also used in the plural form to indicate love affairs or sexual adventures. This same root also produces amicus—"friend"—and amicitia, "friendship" (often based to mutual advantage, and corresponding sometimes more closely to "indebtedness" or "influence"). Cicero wrote a treatise called On Friendship (de Amicitia), which discusses the notion at some length. Ovid wrote a guide to dating called Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love), which addresses, in depth, everything from extramarital affairs to overprotective parents.

Complicating the picture somewhat, Latin sometimes uses amāre where English would simply say to like. This notion, however, is much more generally expressed in Latin by placere or delectāre, which are used more colloquially, the latter used frequently in the love poetry of Catullus.

Diligere often has the notion "to be affectionate for," "to esteem," and rarely if ever is used for romantic love. This word would be appropriate to describe the friendship of two men. The corresponding noun diligentia, however, has the meaning of "diligence" or "carefulness," and has little semantic overlap with the verb.

Observare is a synonym for diligere; despite the cognate with English, this verb and its corresponding noun, observantia, often denote "esteem" or "affection."

Caritas is used in Latin translations of the Christian Bible to mean "charitable love"; this meaning, however, is not found in Classical pagan Roman literature. As it arises from a conflation with a Greek word, there is no corresponding verb.

Religious views

Abrahamic religions

Judaism

Robert Indiana's 1977 "LOVE sculpture" spelling ahava in Israel.

In Hebrew, Ahava is the most commonly used term for both interpersonal love and love of God.

Judaism employs a wide definition of love, both among people and between man and the Deity. Regarding the former, the Torah states, "Love your neighbor like yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). As for the latter, one is commanded to love God "with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5), taken by the Mishnah (a central text of the Jewish oral law) to refer to good deeds, willingness to sacrifice one's life rather than commit certain serious transgressions, willingness to sacrifice all of one's possessions, and being grateful to the Lord despite adversity (tractate Berachoth 9:5). Rabbinic literature differs as to how this love can be developed, e.g., by contemplating divine deeds or witnessing the marvels of nature.

As for love between marital partners, this is deemed an essential ingredient to life: "See life with the wife you love" (Ecclesiastes 9:9). The biblical book Song of Solomon is considered a romantically phrased metaphor of love between God and his people, but in its plain reading, reads like a love song.

The 20th-century Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler is frequently quoted as defining love from the Jewish point of view as "giving without expecting to take" (from his Michtav me-Eliyahu, Vol. 1). Romantic love per se has few echoes in Jewish literature, although the Medieval Rabbi Judah Halevi wrote romantic poetry in Arabic in his younger years (he appears to have regretted this later).[citation needed]

Christianity

The Christian understanding is that love comes from God. The love of man and woman—eros in Greek—and the unselfish love of others (agape), are often contrasted as "ascending" and "descending" love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing.[15]

There are several Greek words for "love" that are regularly referred to in Christian circles.

  • Agape: In the New Testament, agapē is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love, seen as creating goodness in the world; it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is seen as the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for one another.
  • Phileo: Also used in the New Testament, phileo is a human response to something that is found to be delightful. Also known as "brotherly love."
  • Two other words for love in the Greek language, eros (sexual love) and storge (child-to-parent love), were never used in the New Testament.

Christians believe that to Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength and Love your neighbor as yourself are the two most important things in life (the greatest commandment of the Jewish Torah, according to Jesus; cf. Gospel of Mark chapter 12, verses 28–34). Saint Augustine summarized this when he wrote "Love God, and do as thou wilt."

The Apostle Paul glorified love as the most important virtue of all. Describing love in the famous poem in 1 Corinthians, he wrote, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres." (1 Cor. 13:4–7, NIV)

The Apostle John wrote, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16–18, NIV)

John also wrote, "Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:7–8, NIV)

Saint Augustine says that one must be able to decipher the difference between love and lust. Lust, according to Saint Augustine, is an overindulgence, but to love and be loved is what he has sought for his entire life. He even says, “I was in love with love.” Finally, he does fall in love and is loved back, by God. Saint Augustine says the only one who can love you truly and fully is God, because love with a human only allows for flaws such as “jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention.” According to Saint Augustine, to love God is “to attain the peace which is yours.” (Saint Augustine's Confessions)

Christian theologians see God as the source of love, which is mirrored in humans and their own loving relationships. Influential Christian theologian C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Four Loves.

Benedict XVI wrote his first encyclical on "God is love." He said that a human being, created in the image of God, who is love, is able to practice love; to give himself to God and others (agape) and by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation (eros). This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them.[15]

Islam and Arab

In a sense, love does encompass the Islamic view of life as universal brotherhood that applies to all who hold the faith. There are no direct references stating that God is love, but amongst the 99 names of God (Allah), there is the name Al-Wadud, or "the Loving One," which is found in Surah 11:90 as well as Surah 85:14. It refers to God as being "full of loving kindness." All who hold the faith have God's love, but to what degree or effort he has pleased God depends on the individual itself.

Ishq, or divine love, is the emphasis of Sufism. Sufis believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe. God desires to recognize beauty, and as if one looks at a mirror to see oneself, God "looks" at itself within the dynamics of nature. Since everything is a reflection of God, the school of Sufism practices to see the beauty inside the apparently ugly. Sufism is often referred to as the religion of love. God in Sufism is referred to in three main terms, which are the Lover, Loved, and Beloved, with the last of these terms being often seen in Sufi poetry. A common viewpoint of Sufism is that through love, humankind can get back to its inherent purity and grace. The saints of Sufism are infamous for being "drunk" due to their love of God; hence, the constant reference to wine in Sufi poetry and music.

Eastern religions

Buddhism

In Buddhism, Kāma is sensuous, sexual love. It is an obstacle on the path to enlightenment, since it is selfish.

Karuṇā is compassion and mercy, which reduces the suffering of others. It is complementary to wisdom and is necessary for enlightenment.

Adveṣa and mettā are benevolent love. This love is unconditional and requires considerable self-acceptance. This is quite different from ordinary love, which is usually about attachment and sex and which rarely occurs without self-interest. Instead, in Buddhism it refers to detachment and unselfish interest in others' welfare.

The Bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism involves the complete renunciation of oneself in order to take on the burden of a suffering world. The strongest motivation one has in order to take the path of the Bodhisattva is the idea of salvation within unselfish, altruistic love for all sentient beings.

Hinduism

In Hinduism, kāma is pleasurable, sexual love, personified by the god Kamadeva. For many Hindu schools, it is the third end (artha) in life. Kamadeva is often pictured holding a bow of sugar cane and an arrow of flowers; he may ride upon a great parrot. He is usually accompanied by his consort Rati and his companion Vasanta, lord of the spring season. Stone images of Kaama and Rati can be seen on the door of the Chenna Keshava temple at Belur, in Karnataka, India. Maara is another name for kāma.

In contrast to kāma, prema – or prem – refers to elevated love. Karuna is compassion and mercy, which impels one to help reduce the suffering of others. Bhakti is a Sanskrit term, meaning "loving devotion to the supreme God." A person who practices bhakti is called a bhakta. Hindu writers, theologians, and philosophers have distinguished nine forms of bhakti, which can be found in the Bhagavatha-Purana and works by Tulsidas. The philosophical work Narada Bhakti Sutras, written by an unknown author (presumed to be Narada), distinguishes eleven forms of love.

References

  1. ^ Oxford Illustrated American Dictionary (1998) + Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (2000)
  2. ^ Kristeller, Paul Oskar (1980). Renaissance Thought and the Arts: Collected Essays. Princeton University. ISBN 0-691-02010-8. 
  3. ^ Mascaró, Juan (2003). The Bhagavad Gita. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-140-44918-3.  (J. Mascaró, translator)
  4. ^ Kay, Paul (March 1984). "What is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?". American Anthropologist. New Series 86 (1): pp. 65–79. doi:10.1525/aa.1984.86.1.02a00050. 
  5. ^ "Ancient Love Poetry". http://www.TrueOpenLove.org/reference/AncientLovePoetry.html. 
  6. ^ Leibniz, Gottfried. "Confessio philosophi". Wikisource edition. http://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Confessio_philosophi. 
  7. ^ DiscoveryHealth. "Paraphilia". http://health.discovery.com/centers/sex/sexpedia/paraphilia.html. Retrieved on 2007-12-16. 
  8. ^ a b Lewis, Thomas; Amini, F., & Lannon, R. (2000). A General Theory of Love. Random House. ISBN 0-375-70922-3. 
  9. ^ a b Winston, Robert (2004). Human. Smithsonian Institution. 
  10. ^ Emanuele, E.; Polliti, P.; Bianchi, M.; Minoretti, P.; Bertona, M.; & Geroldi, D (2005). "Raised plasma nerve growth factor levels associated with early-stage romantic love". Psychoneuroendocrinology Sept. 05. http://www.biopsychiatry.com/lovengf.htm. 
  11. ^ Rubin, Zick (1970). "Measurement of Romantic Love". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 16: 265–27. doi:10.1037/h0029841. 
  12. ^ Rubin, Zick (1973). Liking and Loving: an invitation to social psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. 
  13. ^ Berscheid, Ellen; Walster, Elaine, H. (1969). Interpersonal Attraction. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. CCCN 69-17443. 
  14. ^ Peck, Scott (1978). The Road Less Traveled. Simon & Schuster. p. 169. ISBN 0-671-25067-1. 
  15. ^ a b Pope Benedict XVI. "papal encyclical, Deus Caritas Est.". http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html. 

Sources

  • Chadwick, Henry (1998). Saint Augustine Confessions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
  • Fisher, Helen. Why We Love: the Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love. 
  • Singer, Irving (1966). The Nature of Love (v.1 reprinted and later volumes from The University of Chicago Press, 1984 ed.). Random House. ISBN 0-226-76094-4. 
  • Sternberg, R.J. (1986). "A triangular theory of love". Psychological Review 93: 119–135. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.93.2.119. 
  • Sternberg, R.J. (1987). "Liking versus loving: A comparative evaluation of theories". Psychological Bulletin 102: 331–345. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.102.3.331. 
  • Tennov, Dorothy (1979). Love and Limerence: the Experience of Being in Love. New York: Stein and Day. ISBN 0-812-86134-5. 
  • Wood Samuel E., Ellen Wood and Denise Boyd (2005). The World of Psychology (5th ed.). Pearson Education. p. 402–403. 

See also

External links


 
Misspellings: love
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Common misspelling(s) of love

  • loev
  • lvoe
  • lveo

 
Translations: Love
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - kærlighed, elskov, lyst
v. tr. - elske, holde meget af, meget gerne
v. intr. - elske, holde meget af, meget gerne

idioms:

  • for love    gratis
  • in love with    forelsket i
  • love affair    kærligsaffære, kærligshistorie, kærlighedseventyr, kærlighedsforhold
  • love at first sight    kærlighed ved første blik
  • love bite    sugemærke
  • love child    elskovsbarn
  • love feast    kærlighedsmåltid
  • love letter    kærestebrev, kærlighedsbrev
  • love life    kærlighedsliv
  • love match    inklinationsparti
  • love nest    elskovsrede
  • love triangle    trekant, kærlighedstrekant
  • love-hate relationship    had-kærlighedsforhold
  • make love    elske, have samleje
  • no love lost between    ikke være de bedste venner
  • not for love or money    ikke for noget i verden

Nederlands (Dutch)
liefde, geliefde, verliefdheid, genegenheid, schatje (informele aanspreekvorm), houden van, liefhebben, heerlijk vinden, verzot zijn op, vrijen met, liefdes-, nul (tennis)

Français (French)
n. - amour, affection, amitiés, baisers, affectueusement (lettre), (GB) amour, chéri(e), zéro (tennis)
v. tr. - aimer, adorer, être ravi(e) (iron)
v. intr. - aimer

idioms:

  • fall out of love    cesser d'être amoureux
  • for love    par amour
  • for the love of    pour l'amour de, par goût pour
  • in love    amoureux de
  • love affair    liaison, histoire d'amour
  • love at first sight    coup de foudre
  • love bite    (GB) suçon
  • love child    enfant de l'amour
  • love feast    festin amoureux
  • love letter    lettre d'amour
  • love life    vie amoureuse
  • love match    union parfaite
  • love nest    nid d'amour
  • love triangle    éternel triangle
  • love-hate relationship    relation d'amour et de haine
  • make love    faire l'amour
  • no love lost between    se détester cordialement
  • not for love or money    (ne pas faire qch) pour rien au monde

Deutsch (German)
n. - Liebe, Geliebte, Liebling, null
v. - lieben

idioms:

  • fall out of love    jmdn. nicht mehr lieben, einer Sache überdrüssig sein/etw. nicht mehr mögen
  • for love    aus Liebe
  • for the love of    jmdm. zu Liebe, um jmds. willen
  • in love    verliebt in
  • love affair    Liebesaffäre
  • love at first sight    Liebe auf den ersten Blick
  • love bite    roter Hautfleck nach Beißen während des Liebesspiels
  • love child    uneheliches Kind
  • love feast    Liebesmahl
  • love letter    Liebesbrief
  • love life    Liebesleben
  • love match    Liebesheirat
  • love nest    Liebesnest
  • love triangle    Dreiecksverhältnis
  • love-hate relationship    Haßliebe
  • make love    miteinander schlafen
  • no love lost between    können sich nicht ausstehen
  • not for love or money    auf gar keinen Fall

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αγάπη, στοργή, έρωτας, αγαπημένος, ερωμένος (άνθρωπος), (αθλοπ.) έλλειψη σκορ, μηδέν-μηδέν
v. - αγαπώ, ακριβαγαπώ, μου αρέσει πολύ, λατρεύω
num. - μηδέν

idioms:

  • for love    από αγάπη
  • in love with    ερωτευμένος με
  • love affair    ερωτική υπόθεση, ερωτοδουλειά
  • love at first sight    κεραυνοβόλος έρωτας
  • love bite    σημάδι από ερωτική δαγκωνιά ή ρουφηξιά
  • love child    εξώγαμο
  • love feast    (θρησκ., ιστ.) ποτήριον αγάπης, εορτή της αγάπης
  • love letter    ερωτική επιστολή
  • love life    ερωτική ή σεξουαλική ζωή
  • love match    γάμος από έρωτα
  • love nest    ερωτική φωλιά
  • love triangle    ερωτικό τρίγωνο
  • love-hate relationship    σχέση αγάπης-μίσους
  • make love    κάνω έρωτα
  • no love lost between    εχθρότητα ανάμεσα
  • not for love or money    για τίποτα στον κόσμο

Italiano (Italian)
amare, adorare, amore, amante, affetto, amoroso, amorosamente

idioms:

  • for love    per amore
  • in love with    innamorato di
  • love affair    avventura romantica
  • love at first sight    amore a prima vista
  • love bite    freccia di Cupido
  • love child    figlio naturale
  • love feast    agape
  • love letter    lettera d'amore
  • love life    vita amorosa
  • love match    matrimonio d'amore
  • love nest    nido d'amore
  • love triangle    triangolo amoroso
  • love-hate relationship    relazione di amore e odio
  • no love lost between    detestarsi
  • not for love or money    per niente al mondo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - amor (m), afeição (m), amizade (m), zero (m) (Desp.)
v. - amar, querer bem, gostar de
num. - zero

idioms:

  • for love    por amor
  • in love with    apaixonado
  • love affair    caso (m) de amor
  • love at first sight    amor (m) à primeira vista
  • love bite    chupada (f)
  • love child    filho (m) ilegítimo
  • love feast    ágape dos cristãos e seitas primitivas
  • love letter    carta (f) de amor
  • love life    vida (f) amorosa
  • love match    casamento por amor
  • love nest    ninho (m) de amor
  • love triangle    triângulo (m) amoroso
  • love-hate relationship    relacionamento (m) de amor e ódio
  • make love    fazer amor, transar
  • no love lost between    detestar-se
  • not for love or money    por nada deste mundo

Русский (Russian)
любить, хотеть чего-л., любовь, предмет любви, любовная интрига

idioms:

  • for love    из любви к искусству
  • in love with    влюбиться
  • love affair    любовный роман
  • love at first sight    любовь с первого взгляда
  • love bite    засос
  • love child    дитя любви
  • love feast    у ранних христиан - обед, символизирующий братскую любовь, методистская служба, имитирующая обряд ранних христиан
  • love letter    любовное письмо
  • love life    интимная жизнь
  • love match    брак по любви
  • love nest    любовное гнездышко
  • love triangle    любовный треугольник
  • love-hate relationship    отношения любви-ненависти
  • make love    иметь физическую близость с кем-л., ухаживать за кем-л.
  • no love lost between    не взлюбить кого-л.
  • not for love or money    ни за какие деньги

Español (Spanish)
n. - chifladura, cariño, enamoramiento, querido, amante, amor, afecto
v. tr. - amar, querer, tener cariño, enamorarse
v. intr. - amar, estar enamorado

idioms:

  • fall out of love    perder el amor
  • for love    por amor, por gusto, gratis
  • for the love of    por el amor de
  • in love    estar enamorado de
  • love affair    amorío, aventura amorosa
  • love at first sight    amor a primera vista, flechazo
  • love bite    mordisco amoroso
  • love child    hijo natural, hijo del amor
  • love feast    ágape (entre los primeros cristianos)
  • love letter    carta de amor
  • love life    vida amorosa
  • love match    matrimonio por amor
  • love nest    nido de amor
  • love triangle    triángulo amoroso
  • love-hate relationship    relación de amor-odio
  • make love    hacer el amor
  • no love lost between    no se pueden ver, no se aprecian
  • not for love or money    por nada del mundo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kärlek, förälskelse, tillgivenhet, lust, böjelse, förtjusning, passion, hälsning (ar), älskling, raring, lilla vän, rar (förtjusande) människa, sötnos, förtjusande (tjusig) sak, (Love) Amor, kärleksguden, (poet.) amorin, (i tennis o.d.) noll
v. - älska, tycka (mycket) om, vara
num. - (i tennis o.d.) noll

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
爱, 爱情, 恋爱, 爱慕, 爱好

idioms:

  • for love    出于喜爱
  • in love with    爱上
  • love affair    风流韵事, 强烈爱好
  • love at first sight    一见钟情
  • love bite    吻痕
  • love child    私生子
  • love feast    友好聚餐
  • love letter    情书
  • love life    情爱生活, 性生活
  • love match    恋爱结婚
  • love nest    爱窝, 指情人的居处, 幽会处所, 有爱的家
  • love triangle    三角恋爱
  • love-hate relationship    爱恨交加
  • make love    做爱, 示爱
  • no love lost between    不再相爱, 没有好感
  • not for love or money    无论如何都不

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 愛, 愛情, 戀愛
v. tr. - 愛, 愛慕, 愛好
v. intr. - 愛

idioms:

  • for love    出於喜愛
  • in love with    愛上
  • love affair    風流韻事, 強烈愛好
  • love at first sight    一見鐘情
  • love bite    吻痕
  • love child    私生子
  • love feast    友好聚餐
  • love letter    情書
  • love life    情愛生活, 性生活
  • love match    戀愛結婚
  • love nest    愛窩, 指情人的居處, 幽會處所, 有愛的家
  • love triangle    三角戀愛
  • love-hate relationship    愛恨交加
  • make love    做愛, 示愛
  • no love lost between    不再相愛, 沒有好感
  • not for love or money    無論如何都不

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 사랑 , 애정, 좋아하는 것[사람]
v. tr. - 사랑하다, 애호하다, 애무하다, 필요로 하다, ~을 필요로 하다
v. intr. - 연애하고 있다, 반하다

idioms:

  • in love with    애착을 갖고 있다, 반해 있다
  • make love    포옹하다, 성행위하다, 구애하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 愛, 愛情, 恋愛, 性欲, 大好きな物, 強い好み, ねえ, 恋人, 愛人, 愛する人, 色情, 好きなもの
v. - 愛する, 大好きである, …したいと思う

idioms:

  • crossed in love    失恋する
  • for love    好きで, ただで, 賭けなしで
  • in love with    …にほれて, 好んで
  • love affair    恋愛事件, 情事
  • love at first sight    一目惚れ
  • love bite    キスマーク
  • love child    私生児
  • love feast    愛餐, 愛餐会
  • love letter    ラブレター
  • love life    性生活
  • love match    恋愛結婚
  • love nest    愛の巣
  • love triangle    三角関係
  • make love    性交する, 口説く, 言い寄る
  • no love lost between    ~との間にもう愛はない
  • not for love or money    どうやってみても~ない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) محبه, مودة, ولوع, شغف, موضوع هذا الولوع أو الشغف, حب, صله غراميه, قصه غرام, جماع, المحبوب (فعل) يجب, يعشق, يلاطف, يربت ألخ, يولع, يشغف (عدد) صفر, لا شىء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אהבה, אהוב, אהובה, מותק, חיבה, דבר מקסים, יחסי-מין, אפס נקודות (בטניס וכו')‬
v. tr. - ‮אהב, נטה ל-, חיבב מאד, העריץ‬
v. intr. - ‮הית/ה מאוהב/ת ב-‬


 
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