love

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: 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; preëminent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness; as, the love of brothers and sisters.

Of all the dearest bonds we prove Thou countest sons' and mothers' love Most sacred, most Thine own.— John Keble

2. Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate affection for, one of the opposite sex.

He on his side Leaning half-raised, with looks of cordial love Hung over her enamored.— John Milton

3. Courtship; — chiefly in the phrase to make love, i. e., to court, to woo, to solicit union in marriage.

Demetrius... Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena, And won her soul.— William Shakespeare

4. Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or desire; fondness; good will; — opposed to hate; often with of and an object.

Love, and health to all.— William Shakespeare

Smit with the love of sacred song.— John Milton

The love of science faintly warmed his breast.— Elijah Fenton

5. Due gratitude and reverence to God.

Keep yourselves in the love of God.— Jude 21.

6. The object of affection; — often employed in endearing address; as, he held his love in his arms; his greatest love was reading. “Trust me, love.” John Dryden

Open the temple gates unto my love.— Edmund Spenser

7. Cupid, the god of love; sometimes, Venus.

Such was his form as painters, when they show Their utmost art, on naked Lores bestow.— John Dryden

Therefore do nimble-pinioned doves draw Love.— William Shakespeare

8. A thin silk stuff. obsolete Robert Boyle

9. Botany A climbing species of Clematis (Clematis Vitalba).

10. Nothing; no points scored on one side; — used in counting score at tennis, etc.

He won the match by three sets to love.— The Field.

11. Sexual intercourse; — a euphemism.

☞ 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.

A labor of love, a labor undertaken on account of regard for some person, or through pleasure in the work itself, without expectation of reward. — Free love, the doctrine or practice of consorting with one of the opposite sex, at pleasure, without marriage. See Free love. — Free lover, one who avows or practices free love. — In love, in the act of loving; — said esp. of the love of the sexes; as, to be in love; to fall in love. — Love apple Botany, the tomato. — Love bird Zoology, any one of several species of small, short-tailed parrots, or parrakeets, of the genus Agapornis, and allied genera. They are mostly from Africa. Some species are often kept as cage birds, and are celebrated for the affection which they show for their mates. — Love broker, a person who for pay acts as agent between lovers, or as a go-between in a sexual intrigue. William Shakespeare — Love charm, a charm for exciting love. Edward George, Baron Lytton Bulwer-Lytton — Love child. an illegitimate child. Jane Austen — Love day, a day formerly appointed for an amicable adjustment of differences. obsolete Vision of Piers Plowman Geoffrey Chaucer — Love drink, a love potion; a philter. Geoffrey Chaucer — Love favor, something given to be worn in token of love. — Love feast, a religious festival, held quarterly by some religious denominations, as the Moravians and Methodists, in imitation of the agapæ of the early Christians. — Love feat, the gallant act of a lover. William Shakespeare — Love game, a game, as in tennis, in which the vanquished person or party does not score a point. — Love grass. Botany Any grass of the genus Eragrostis. — Love-in-a-mist. Botany (a) An herb of the Buttercup family (Nigella Damascena) having the flowers hidden in a maze of finely cut bracts. (b) The West Indian Passiflora fœtida, which has similar bracts. — Love-in-idleness Botany, a kind of violet; the small pansy.

A little western flower, Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound; And maidens call it love-in-idleness.— William Shakespeare

— Love juice, juice of a plant supposed to produce love. William Shakespeare — Love knot, a knot or bow, as of ribbon; — so called from being used as a token of love, or as a pledge of mutual affection. Henry Hart Milman — Love lass, a sweetheart. — Love letter, a letter of courtship. William Shakespeare — Love-lies-bleeding Botany, a species of amaranth (Amarantus melancholicus). — Love match, a marriage brought about by love alone. — Love potion, a compounded draught intended to excite love, or venereal desire. — Love rites, sexual intercourse. Alexander Pope — Love scene, an exhibition of love, as between lovers on the stage. — Love suit, courtship. William Shakespeare — Of all loves, for the sake of all love; by all means. obsolete “Mrs. Arden desired him of all loves to come back again.” Raphael Holinshed — The god of love, or The Love god, Cupid. — To make love, to engage in sexual intercourse; — a euphemism. — To make love to, to express affection for; to woo. “If you will marry, make your loves to me.” William Shakespeare — To play for love, to play a game, as at cards, without stakes. “A game at piquet for love.” Charles Lamb

Synonyms: Affection; friendship; kindness; tenderness; fondness; delight.

Origin: AS. lufian. √124. See Love, noun

1. To have a feeling of love for; to regard with affection or good will; as, to love one's children and friends; to love one's country; to love one's God.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.— Matt. xxii. 37.

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self.— Matt. xxii. 39.

2. To regard with passionate and devoted affection, as that of one sex for the other.

3. To take delight or pleasure in; to have a strong liking or desire for, or interest in; to be pleased with; to like; as, to love books; to love adventures.

Wit, eloquence, and poetry. Arts which I loved.— Abraham Cowley

To have the feeling of love; to be in love.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: +PJC, GCIDE editors

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

<humour> What some users feel for computers.

"There is no truth in the rumour that I love computers, it's just what I tell them to get them to bed."

-- Terry Pratchett

[What did you expect in a computing dictionary?]

(2007-05-11)

The Devil's Dictionary