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The word love (in its noun form) has a history you have to love. Dating back to the Proto-Indo-European word leubh, meaning "care" or "desire", it later evolved into Latin with the word lubet, which went on further to become libet. Libet is also the father of the word libido, which is connected to love almost as closely as its roots. After the Romans died out (a recurring theme in these posts, for some reason) the word spread not to French this time, but Germanic. Here it steadily evolved into four forms, each taking the place of the antecedent: lubo, liube, liebe, and then lob, all of which had the modern meaning, except liube, which went through a phrase where it was referred to as "joy". This eventually phased into Old English as lufu, and it got mangled around until it became love. Many phrases were derived from love, since it was such a powerful and important word in everyday life, including lovebird, lovesick, loveseat, and making love (which originally meant naught but the innocent act of courtship, until it became a euphemism and it suddenly turned inappropriate). Today, etymology enthusiasts can be a little surprised that throughout the history of words they love, love changed little. But then again, love loves to love love.
41 Comments
Dear Adam,
Sicetnon3
12/11/2022 02:41:16 pm
Yes. Keep looking for the connection, Shenzhan
Julia
1/12/2022 04:00:25 pm
You might want to reconsider the phrase "after the Romans died out." While the Roman Empire ceased to exist in 476 AD, the city of Rome did not, and exists to this day. Modern-day Romans are Italians and very much alive! Maybe change this to, "After the fall of the Roman empire..."?
Paolo
6/9/2022 08:04:10 am
Jerry Griffin
2/12/2024 09:57:43 am
Not contesting Julia's comment, but more specifically, one need only look to the 'Roman' Catholic Church to see the continuation of the Roman ecclesiastic traditions and the language of Latin. While local languages were authorized for Mass since the 1960's Latin remains as the official language of the Catholic Church to this day.
Eileen de Bruin
7/23/2022 08:10:36 am
I wonder, though, if the Dutch (Nederlands) root of geloven, beloven - to believe and to promise are also directly related. Ik heb je lief, means that I hold you lovingly. Also, in old English not so long ago people said " I would liever this or that do". So this is also related to believe and to beloved and to the anglo saxon root - teutonic yes, from German but from lower German. 8/1/2022 06:18:44 am
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I find the etymology of the word "love" absolutely fascinating! It's incredible how a simple word that carries so much meaning has such a rich history. From its roots in Proto-Indo-European to its evolution through Latin and Germanic languages, it's clear that the concept of love has been important to humanity for a very long time. Leave a Reply. |
AUTHOR
Hello! I'm Adam Aleksic. I have a linguistics degree from Harvard University, where I co-founded the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society and wrote my thesis on Serbo-Croatian language policy. In addition to etymology, I also really enjoy traveling, trivia, philosophy, board games, conlanging, and art history.
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