Love Meaning: A Short Word With Many Layers

Love meaning in English: the main senses

1. Deep affection. The bond between family members or close friends: a grandmother's love for her grandchildren.
2. Romantic love. Strong attraction and emotional closeness between partners, often with desire and commitment.
3. Strong liking. Great enjoyment of an activity or thing: a love of cricket, loving spicy food.
4. A person you love. "She was the love of his life."
5. A friendly form of address. In British and some other English, "Thanks, love" is a warm, casual way to speak to anyone.
6. Zero in tennis and some other games. "Fifteen-love" means fifteen points to nothing. The origin of this use is not certain.

Kinds of love, from Greek ideas

Ancient Greek had several words where English has one, and people still use them to sort kinds of love.

English has its own useful words here. Platonic love is close and caring without romance, and limerence describes the intense, often anxious early stage of being in love.

The biblical definition of love

Scripture returns to love again and again, from the law and the prophets to the letters of the apostles. The Hebrew word ahavah covers love between people and between God and people, while chesed names a loyal, covenant-keeping love that English versions render in several ways, such as mercy or kindness.

When asked which commandment is greatest, Jesus answers in Matthew 22 with two: love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself, both drawn from earlier books of the law. The New Testament mostly uses the Greek agape for this kind of love.

The best-known biblical meaning of love is in 1 Corinthians 13, often read at weddings. It describes love as patient and kind, not envious, boastful, proud or rude, not quick to anger and not keeping a record of wrongs, and says that love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things. The letter of 1 John goes further with the short line "God is love" (1 John 4:8).

What does love mean in the Bible for daily life?

For many Christians, the definition of love in the Bible is less about feelings and more about choices: patience with difficult people, forgiveness, generosity and care for the poor and the stranger. Love in this sense can be commanded because it is something you do, not only something you feel. Other faiths have their own teachings: Judaism shares the command to love one's neighbour, and many traditions speak of compassion and mercy as forms of love. Our grace page explains a closely linked idea.

Love in sentences

• Her love for her students shows in how carefully she marks their essays.
• We fell in love during a long, rainy monsoon in Pune.
• I would love to join you for dinner, but I have a deadline tonight.
• The old man's love of birds started when he was a boy.
• She ended the card with "Lots of love, Grandma."
• The match was tied at thirty-love when the rain began.

How to use love naturally

• Love vs like: love is stronger. "I like this song" is mild; "I love this song" is enthusiastic.
• Common pairings: fall in love, be in love with, love of your life, love at first sight, tough love, unconditional love, with love.
• Grammar: say "in love with someone", not "in love to someone". After "would love", use "to": "I would love to come."
• Signing off: "Love" at the end of a message is for family and close friends, not for work emails.

Origin of the word love

Few English words go back further than love. It comes from Old English lufu for the noun and lufian for the verb, and it shares an ancient root with the German Liebe and the Dutch liefde. The adjective lief, meaning dear or gladly, comes from the same family, though it is now rare. For other everyday words with deep histories, see our list of common English words, where you can define love's neighbours too.