Dear Dark Beast,
Not less than 10,000 definitions appear on Google when you search for
"definition:love" (<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=definition%3Alove&btnG=Google+Search>
; the "definition:" feature enables you to get as result all kind of
sources that define a term).
The first ones are from Dictionary.com, a site that encompasses
several dictionaries. Only they alone have 10 definitions for love:
?love (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.
3. Sexual passion.
4. Sexual intercourse.
5. A love affair.
6. An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object.
7. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or
attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment.
8. An expression of one's affection: Send him my love.
9. A strong predilection or enthusiasm: a love of language.
10. The object of such an enthusiasm: The outdoors is her greatest love.
11. Love Mythology. Eros or Cupid.
12. often Love Christianity. Charity.
13. Sports. A zero score in tennis.
[?]
v. intr.
To experience deep affection or intense desire for another.
[?]
[Middle English, from Old English lufu. See leubh- in Indo-European Roots.]
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.?
Source: The American Heritage? Dictionary of the English Language,
Fourth Edition Copyright ? 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published
by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. (SOURCE: at
Dictionary.com, <http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=love&r=67>).
Another definition from the same site:
?love
\Love\, n. [OE. love, luve, AS. lufe, lufu; akin to E. lief, believe,
L. lubet, libet,it pleases, Skr. lubh to be lustful. See Lief.] 1. A
feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or
commands admiration; pre["e]minent kindness or devotion to another;
affection; tenderness; as, the love of brothers and sisters.
[?]
2. Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate
affection for, one of the opposite sex.
[?]
3. Courtship; -- chiefly in the phrase to make love, i. e., to court,
to woo, to solicit union in marriage.
[?]
4. Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or desire;
fondness; good will; -- opposed to hate; often with of and an object.
[?]
5. Due gratitude and reverence to God.
[?]
6. The object of affection; -- often employed in endearing address.
``Trust me, love.'' --Dryden.
[?]
7. Cupid, the god of love; sometimes, Venus.
[?]
8. A thin silk stuff. [Obs.] --Boyle.
[?]
9. (Bot.) A climbing species of Clematis (C. Vitalba).
[?]
10. Nothing; no points scored on one side; -- used in counting score
at tennis, etc.
[?]
Note: Love is often used in the formation of compounds, in most of
which the meaning is very obvious; as, love-cracked, love-darting,
love-killing, love-linked, love-taught, etc.
(Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, ? 1996, 1998 MICRA,
Inc. at Dictionary.com,
<http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=love&r=67>).
A third:
?love
n 1: a strong positive emotion of regard and affection; "his love for
his work"; "children need a lot of love" [ant: hate] 2: any object of
warm affection or devotion; "the theater was her first love" or "he
has a passion for cock fighting"; [syn: passion] 3: a beloved person;
used as terms of endearment [syn: beloved, dear, dearest, loved one,
honey] 4: a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction; "their love
left them indifferent to their surroundings"; "she was his first love"
5: a score of zero in tennis or squash; "it was 40 love" 6: sexual
activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people;
"his lovemaking disgusted her"; "he hadn't had any love in months";
"he has a very complicated love life" [syn: sexual love, lovemaking,
making love, love life] v 1: have a great affection or liking for; "I
love French food"; "She loves her boss and works hard for him" [ant:
hate] 2: get pleasure from; "I love cooking" [syn: enjoy] 3: be
enamored or in love with; "She loves her husband deeply" 4: have
sexual intercourse with; "This student sleeps with everyone in her
dorm"; "Adam knew Eve"; "Were you ever intimate with this man?" [syn:
roll in the hay, make out, make love, sleep with, get laid, have sex,
know, do it, be intimate, have intercourse, have it away, have it off,
screw, fuck, jazz, eff, hump, lie with, bed, have a go at it, bang,
get it on, bonk]?
(Source: WordNet ? 2.0, ? 2003 Princeton University, at Dictionary.com
, <http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=love&r=67>).
A fourth:
?love
What many users feel for computers.
"I don't really love computers, I just say that to get them into bed
with me". (Terry Pratchet)
[What did you expect in a computing dictionary?]
(1995-05-10)?
(Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, ? 1993-2004 Denis
Howe, at Dictionary.com,
<http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=love&r=67>).
And another somewhat limited definition:
?love
This word seems to require explanation only in the case of its use by
our Lord in his interview with "Simon, the son of Jonas," after his
resurrection (John 21:16, 17). When our Lord says, "Lovest thou me?"
he uses the Greek word _agapas_; and when Simon answers, he uses the
Greek word _philo_, i.e., "I love." This is the usage in the first and
second questions put by our Lord; but in the third our Lord uses
Simon's word. The distinction between these two Greek words is thus
fitly described by Trench:, "_Agapan_ has more of judgment and
deliberate choice; _philein_ has more of attachment and peculiar
personal affection. Thus the 'Lovest thou' (Gr. agapas) on the lips of
the Lord seems to Peter at this moment too cold a word, as though his
Lord were keeping him at a distance, or at least not inviting him to
draw near, as in the passionate yearning of his heart he desired now
to do. Therefore he puts by the word and substitutes his own stronger
'I love' (Gr. philo) in its room. A second time he does the same. And
now he has conquered; for when the Lord demands a third time whether
he loves him, he does it in the word which alone will satisfy Peter
('Lovest thou,' Gr. phileis), which alone claims from him that
personal attachment and affection with which indeed he knows that his
heart is full." In 1 Cor. 13 the apostle sets forth the excellency of
love, as the word "charity" there is rendered in the Revised Version.?
(Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary, at Dictionary.com,
<http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=love&r=67>).
I hope this answered your question. As I said, there are more than
10,000 others waiting for you in the first link I gave you, not
mentioning each and every one of us' personal definition of love. |
