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Brit. /l
v/, U.S. /l
v/ Forms: 
. OE hlufian (rare), OE lufian, OE luuian (rare), lOE lofodest (2nd singular past indicative, perh. transmission error), lOE louian, eME loui
e, eME lufie, eME luuige, eME luuie, ME lofuie, ME loueie, ME louie, ME louy, ME louye, ME lovy, ME lovye, ME lowie, ME lufie, ME luuie, ME luuye.
. ME lof, ME lofe, ME loffe, ME lofue, ME looue, ME louf, ME lovue, ME low, ME lowe, ME lowfe, ME luf, ME lufe, ME luff, ME luffe, ME luud (past tense), ME luue, ME-16 loue, ME- love, 15 lub (app. only in representations of non-standard speech), 15 lubbe (app. only in representations of non-standard speech), 15 (19- nonstandard and in representations of non-standard speech) luve, 15-16 (18- Eng. regional and Irish English) loove, 18- luv (nonstandard and in representations of non-standard speech); Sc. pre-17 leuve, pre-17 lofe, pre-17 loif, pre-17 loof, pre-17 looue, pre-17 loue, pre-17 louf, pre-17 loufe, pre-17 louff, pre-17 lov, pre-17 low, pre-17 lowe, pre-17 lowffe, pre-17 lude (past tense and past participle), pre-17 luf, pre-17 lufe, pre-17 luff, pre-17 luffe, pre-17 luif, pre-17 luiff, pre-17 luis (3rd singular present indicative), pre-17 lute (past participle), pre-17 luue, pre-17 luwe, pre-17 lwd (past participle), pre-17 lwf, pre-17 lwfe, pre-17 lwid (past participle), pre-17 lwif, pre-17 lwiff, pre-17 lwis (3rd singular present indicative), pre-17 lwve, pre-17 17 luid (past tense), pre-17 17- love, pre-17 18- luve, 17 loo, 17 loo', 17 looe, 17 19- loe, 17 19- lue, 18 lee, 18 lo, 18 loie, 18 loye, 18- lo'e, 18- loove, 18- lou, 19- luv; N.E.D. (1903) also records a form 15 luyf (Sc.).See also LURVE v. [< LOVE n.1
Very occasional forms in late Old English with o as stem vowel (compare the past tense form lofodest) may perhaps show the influence of forms of LOVE v.2, perhaps as a result of semantic association between the two words. In early Middle English forms with o are also very occasionally found in sources which do not usually show o as a spelling for u, although in the vast majority of cases in Middle English o is simply a spelling for (the vowel) u before (the consonant) u in order to reduce confusion of minim strokes.
Some of the senses at sense 2 are similar to senses shown by Germanic cognates of LOVE v.2, but this is perhaps entirely coincidental; certainly, the majority of the Old English and early Middle English forms evidenced in these senses seem clearly to show this word and not LOVE v.2
In Old English the prefixed form gelufian also occurs.]
1. a. trans. To have or feel love towards (a person, a thing personified) (for a quality or attribute); to entertain a great affection, fondness, or regard for; to hold dear. Opposed to HATE v. 1.
Distinguished from sexual love: see sense 1b.
eOE (Mercian)
Vespasian Psalter xvii. 1 (2)
Diligam te domine uirtus mea, domine firmamentum meum et refugium meum : ic lufiu
e dryhten megen min dryhten trymenis min & geberg min.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137, He makede manie munekes & plantede winiærd & makede mani weorkes..& wæs god munec & god man, &
for
i him luueden God & gode men.
a1225 (
c1200)
Vices & Virtues 67 Scal ic
luui
e ane euele mann?
a1325 (
c1250)
Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2042 An litel stund quhile he [
sc. Joseph] was
er, So gan him luuen
e prisuner.
a1400 (
a1325)
Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2328
is abram..Ful wel was luued wit god of heuen.
a1450 (
c1412)
T. HOCCLEVE De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) 1260 God in holy writ seith..‘Whom so I loue, hym wole I chastyse.’
1488 (
c1478) H
ARY Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.)
XI. l. 725, I sall, quhill I may leiff, Low
ow fer mar than ony othir knycht.
1489 (
a1380)
J. BARBOUR Bruce (Adv.)
I. 360 All men lufyt him for his bounte.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxxiiii
v, I loue hym as my brother, and take hym as my frende.
a1600 A. MONTGOMERIE Misc. Poems x. 45 Love nane bot vhare thou art lude.
1653 I. WALTON Compl. Angler vii. 153 Tie the frogs leg above the upper joint to the armed wire, and in so doing use him as though you loved him.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II.
VI. 160 He..lov'd his Country with too unskilful a tenderness.
1769 O. GOLDSMITH Rom. Hist. I. 432 Caesar..was loved almost to adoration by his army.
1856 J. A. FROUDE Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 128 A man who loved England well, but who loved Rome better.
1885 Church Times 13 Nov. 883 Our nation is not much loved across the Atlantic.
1911 E. G
OLDMAN tr. M. Baginski in
Mother Earth Mar. 55 The very people he loved so well turned from him.
1926 M. LOWRY Let. 29 Apr.-2 May in
Sursum Corda! (1995) I. 21, I hope you don't mind my writing like this: but I love you for the thumping good sort you are to let me even be friends.
1931 T. F. P
OWYS Unclay (1974) ii. 10 Mr. Hayhoe learned to love others more than himself.
1970 L. M
ERIWETHER Daddy was Number Runner 203, I loved all of Harlem gently and didn't want to be Puerto Rican or anything else but my own rusty self.
1990 A. L. K
ENNEDY Night Geometry & Garscadden Trains 3, I should have said that when he ran, and he often did, he ran like nobody else and I loved him for that.
2000 H. S
IMPSON Hey Yeah Right (2001) 92 She loved her children more than life itself.
b. trans. To feel sexual love for (a person); to be in love with. In early use also: 
to fondle, caress (obs.).
to love par amour(s): see PARAMOUR adv. 1a.
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxiv. 67 Isaac gelædde Rebeccan in to Sarran getelde, hys modor, & underfeng hi to wife, & lufode hi swa
swye,
æt he
æt sar forgeat,
e him on hys modor
deae gelamp.
OE WÆRFER
tr. Gregory
Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.)
III. vii. 189 On æfentid ic geteah his mod to
on,
æt he lufode mid his bradre hand
a nunnan & ofer
a sculdru
geaccode.
lOE K
ING Æ
LFRED tr. St. Augustine
Soliloquies (Vitell.) (1969)
I. 76 Gyf
u hwilc ænlic wif lofodest
swie ungemetlice ofer æalle
oer ing, and heo..nolde
e lufian on nan
oer gera butan
u woldest ælce
oer lufe aletan for hyre anre lufe, woldest
u onne swa don swa heo wylnode?
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6178
in macche
birr e lufenn wel.
c1275 (?
a1200) L
A
AMON Brut (Calig.) l. 258
a luuede he a maide..mid darnscipe he heo luuede.
c1325 (
c1300)
Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig. A. 11) (1887) l. 9549 In som
ing e quene louede as me wende more him
an e king.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) 1408 A
knyt ar was of fraunce
at sche hadde longe y-loued.
a1400 (
c1303)
R. MANNYNG Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 7434 Foul ys
at lust and
at peryl, To loue here
at al men go tyl.
a1470 MALORY Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 359, I love hir abovyn all ladyes lyvynge.
1487 (
a1380)
J. BARBOUR Bruce (St. John's Cambr.)
X. 554, I..lufit ane vench her in the toune.
1567 in J. Cranstoun
Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. iv. 15 Lancit with luif she luid me by all wycht.
1596 SPENSER Faerie Queene: 2nd Pt. VII. vi. 44 Shee had..Long loved the Fanchin, who by nought did set her.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Othello (1622)
IV. i. 110, I neuer knew a woman loue man so.
1667 MILTON Paradise Lost IX. 832 So dear I love him, that with him all deaths I could endure.
1711 A. RAMSAY Elegy Maggy Johnstoun iii, To bonny lasses black or brown, As we loo'd best.
1794 R. BURNS O, my Luve's like a Red, Red Rose ii, And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.
1859 TENNYSON Elaine 674 If I love not him, I know there is none other I can love.
1882 J. HAWTHORNE Fortune's Fool I. xxix, It was intrusively apparent..that Sir Stanhope loved the girl without stint.
1911 M. B
EERBOHM Zuleika Dobson iii. 33 He loved her, and he could not help seeing her... Inexpellable was her image.
1943 K. AMIS Let. c26 Oct.-6 Nov. (2000) 10 My parting with Betty was heart-breaking, because we love each other.
1975 New Yorker 28 Apr. 66/3 Lowering her eyes with an air of anguish when I asked her what had happened to her affair with the man she said she had loved.
2000 A. M
AXTED in J. Adams et al.
Girls' Night In 430, I think that some people
grow to love one another.
c. intr. To entertain a strong affection, to feel love; spec. to have a passionate attachment to another; to be in love.
c1230 (?
a1200)
Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 209 Nu [?read: Ne] con
es luuien [
a1250 Titus luue]
e us speke &
us de.
a1300 in C. Brown
Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 117 Nis non maiden under sunne..
at swo derne
louie kunne.
a1400 (
a1325)
Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4510 Qua leli luues [
a1400 Fairf. louys], for-gettes lat [
a1400 Fairf. not].
a1425 (?
a1400)
CHAUCER Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 85 Hard is the hert that loueth nought In May.
c1475 (?
c1400)
Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 3 If he be conuicted not to luf, ne to do
e office of Crist, in
is he is conuict not to be his vicar.
1528 TYNDALE Parable Wicked Mammon f. xxx, We can not love except we see some benefete.
1568 Christis Kirk on Grene in W. T. Ritchie
Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 262 He wald haif luvit scho wald no
t lat him.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Othello (1622)
V. ii. 353 One that lou'd not wisely, but too well.
1649 R. BAXTER Saints Everlasting Rest (new ed.)
III. x. §6 No man else can tell me whether I Believe and Love, if I cannot tell my self.
1710 LADY M. W. MONTAGU Let. 25 Apr. (1965) I. 30, I can esteem, I can be a freind, but I don't know whether I can Love.
1754 J. ARMSTRONG Forced Marriage III. i. 57 Sure you have never loved.
1850 TENNYSON In Memoriam xxvii. 44 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.
1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 416/1 Still sweeter was it to feel that, deeply as she loved, she was loved as deeply.
1920 C. C
ARSWELL Open Door! I. vii. 126 ‘It is easy enough to fall in love, my childie,’ Juley had said, ‘but to love wisely is sometimes very hard.’
1968 D. M
ORAES My Son's Father vi 110 For the first time I saw her as a person, who thought, felt, had lived and loved and borne a child.
2002 New Yorker 23 Dec. 18/2 The actors are so convincing as callow, gorgeous young self-dramatizers that you wonder if they aren't too immature to love.
d. intr. Reciprocally: to feel love for each other or for one another; similarly 
to love together (also samen) (obs.). Now somewhat arch.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 145 Mochil is grat scele
et we to-gidere louie.
a1387 J. TREVISA tr. R. Higden
Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) III. 373 It is spedful
at frendes love wel.
?a1400 Prick of Conscience (Garrett) 51
e body and
e saul with
e lyfe Lufes mare samen
an man and hys wyfe.
a1470 MALORY Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 1045 They loved togydirs more hotter than they ded toforehonde.
1569 R. GRAFTON Chron. I. vii. 173 They loued after, as two brethren, during their naturall lyues.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623)
IV. vii. 149 Let them kisse one another: For they lou'd well When they were aliue.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Julius Caesar (1623)
IV. ii. 183 Loue, and be Friends.
1653 J. ROGERS Ohel or Beth-Shemesh II. v. 334 For shame let us love and live together as Saints.
1727 W. S
OMERVILE Occas. Poems 195 Then let us love, my Fair,..Each join a willing heart.
1790 W. COWPER Let. 15 Oct. (1982) III. 424 The day of separation, between those who have loved long and well, is an awful day.
1792 R. BURNS in J. Johnson
Scots Musical Museum IV. 358 Had we never lov'd sae kindly.
a1849 E. A. POE Annabel Lee in
Coll. Wks. (1969) I. 477 We loved with a love that was more than
love
I and my Annabel Lee.
1887 F. W. L. ADAMS Poet. Wks. 66 Thus, then, they loved, and all the summer days Love stayed with them.
1918 G. FRANKAU Poet. Wks. (1923) xxxiii. 180 The game's played out between
usGood luck or bad.
Nitchevo, Lady Jill. We loved: we part.
1939 W. E
VERSON San Joaquin 17 My father..met the woman, my mother, and met her again in another place, and they loved and were wed.
e. trans. With cognate object or complement. Obs.
a1470 MALORY Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 493 The good love that I have lovyd you.
1673 DRYDEN Marriage a-la-Mode I. i. 1 We lov'd, and we lov'd, as long as we cou'd, Till our love was lov'd out in us both.
1678 DRYDEN All for Love II, in
Wks. (1883) V. 369 We have loved each other Into our mutual ruin.
f. intr. to love with: to feel love for, to pay court to; to be in love with. Obs.
1597 M. DRAYTON Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 1
v, True loue is simple, like his mother Truth, Kindlie affection, youth to loue with youth.
1665 R. BRATHWAIT Comment Two Tales Chaucer 96 That they may have Husbands Meek, to live with, Young, to love with, and Fresh, to lie with.
c1693 J. HOWE in
Poems on Affairs of State (1704) III. 370 To love with Princes is to gain their Ear.
1883 R. W. DIXON Mano I. iii. 7 He was so gentle and so fair a knight, Who loved with Blanche.
g. trans. colloq. (orig. U.S.). To show love towards, in the manner of a child; to embrace affectionately; to caress, fondle; to engage in love play with. Now usu. with up.
1877 J. HABBERTON Helen's Babies 31, I was only a-lovin' you, cos you was good, and brought us candy.
1889 Harper's Mag. July 271/2 Putting his arms round her neck, [he] ‘loved’ her with his cheek against hers.
1893 O. SCHREINER Story Afr. Farm II. i. 132 Some pale-green, hairy-leaved bushes..meet over our head; and we sit among them, and kiss them, and they love us back.
1916 Janesville (
Wisconsin
)
Daily Gaz. 25 Nov. 7/1 The very idea of a man thinking that any self-respecting girl would want to be ‘loved up’..and slobbered over by every Tom, Dick and Harry.
1921 J. DOS PASSOS Three Soldiers II. iii. 83 You said you were goin' back and love up that goddam girl.
1928 Dial. Notes 6 62 If a hillman [in the Ozarks] does admit that he loved a woman he means only that he caressed and embraced
herand he usually says that he
loved her up.
1932 K. S. PRICHARD Kiss on Lips 167 Why don't you give her a hug..love her up a bit?
1957 J. BRAINE Room at Top xix. 166 If you love me up, I'll be as warm as toast.
1968 M. A
LLWRIGHT Roundabout ix. 59, I never meant any harm; it was just as if he was a puppy I was loving up.
1999 Esquire July 75/1 In bed, Sol loved her up and she took him and held him and loved him back.
2. trans. With a thing as object.
a. To be strongly attached to; to be unwilling to part with or allow to perish (life, honour, etc.).
OE (Northumbrian)
Lindisf. Gospels: John xii. 25
Qui amat animam suam perdet eam :
see lufa sauel his
spilde uel losa hia
OE tr. Bili
St. Machutus 48 For
on is idel lif nan
ing elcor
am e hit
lufa byt
neme synne.
a1225 (?OE)
MS Lamb. in R. Morris
Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 15
u aest luuan heore saule for cristes luue.
c1400 (?
c1390)
Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 2368 Bot for
e lufed your lyf;
e lasse I yow blame.
a1450 (
c1412)
T. HOCCLEVE De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) 462 Lordes, if ye your estat and honour Louen, fleemyth this vicius errour!
?a1475 (?
a1425) tr. R. Higden
Polychron. (Harl.) (1879) VII. 25 The erle..preide her as sche luffed hir lyfe that sche scholde schewe..deformite in vesture.
1530 J. PALSGRAVE Lesclarcissement 735/1 No man styrre and he love his lyfe.
1588 A. MUNDAY tr. C. Colet
Famous Hist. Palladine Eng xlii. sig. Aa.iv, I beseech ye as you loue your honor and renowme.
1649 R. LOVELACE Lucasta 3, I could not love thee (Deare) so much, Lov'd I not Honour more.
1661 A. MARVELL Corr. in
Wks. (1875) II. 71 As you loue your own affairs,..be pleased..to let me know your minds in these points.
1701 C. GILDON Love's Victim II. i. 15 Forbear to touch 'em, as you love your Life.
1766 A. NICOL Poems Several Subj. I. 115, I love my honour and good name.
1852 TENNYSON in
Examiner 7 Feb. 85/1 We are not cotton-spinners all, But some love England and her honour yet.
1876 W. M
ARSTON Donna Diana I. ii. 15, I love my freedom, And you may soon persuade me..To think a single life the best of fates.
1918 H. LAWSON With Dickens in
Poet. Wks. (1963) 219 One who loved honour, wife, and truth, If nothing else besides.
1965 I. F
ELDMAN Pripet Marshes 32 Faithless, You have loved your lives too little.
1995 Scotl. on Sunday (Nexis) 27 Aug. 9, I don't know a thing about the man [
sc. William Wallace], only that he loved liberty and the honour of the Scots.
b. To have a strong liking for; to be fond of; to be devoted or addicted to. Also, in weakened sense: to like, to be partial to (chiefly U.S. regional (south. and south Midland)).
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxiii. 6 Hig [
sc. the scribes and the Pharisees]
lufigea a fyrmystan setl on gebeorscypum, &
a fyrmystan lareowsetl on gesomnungum.
a1225 (?
a1200)
MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris
Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 99 It
war on eches
mu wat mete se he mest luuede.
c1325 (
c1300)
Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig. A. 11) (1887) l. 7698 Game of houndes he louede inou, & of wilde best.
c1405 (
c1390)
CHAUCER Cook's Tale (Hengwrt) l. 12 He loued bet the Tauerne than the shoppe.
?a1475 (?
a1425) tr. R. Higden
Polychron. (Harl.) (1872) IV. 393 This Nero luffede gretely instrumentes musicalle.
a1500 (?
a1425) tr.
Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 113
is man ys lycherous, deceyuant, and loufand lecherye.
1535 Bible (
Coverdale
)
Eccles. v. 9 He that loueth money, wil neuer be satisfied with money.
1611 Bible (
A.V.
)
Prov. xx. 13 Loue not sleepe, lest thou come to pouertie.
a1640 J. FLETCHER et al.
Beggers Bush IV. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher
Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Mm
v/2, I love a fat goose, as I love allegiance.
1690 J. LOCKE Ess. Humane Understanding II. xx. 113 When a Man declares..that he loves Grapes, it is no more, but that the taste of Grapes delights him.
1738 SWIFT Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 10 Colonel, Don't you love Bread and Butter with your Tea?
1747 H. GLASSE Art of Cookery i. 5 Some love a Pig brought whole to Table.
1801 G. MORRIS in J. Sparks
Life G. Morris (1832) III. 146, I respect the English nation highly, but I do not love their manners.
1817 SCOTT Search after Happiness xviii, She loved a book, and knew a thing or two.
1849 T. B. M
ACAULAY Hist. Eng. I. iv. 447 The new king, who loved the details of naval business.
1859 J. R. BARTLETT Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 257 To
Love, for to
like. ‘Do you love pumpkin pie?’
1913 H. KEPHART Our Southern Highlanders 293 Your hostess, proffering apple sauce, will ask, ‘Do you love sass?’
1917 J. BUCHAN Poems 41 My denty doo Has sell't hersel' for gowd and silken braws That weemen loe.
1940 J. T
HURBER Let. Apr. (2002) 329, I took her to the Central Park zoo, which she has always loved.
1978 R. R
OSENBAUM in
Harpers Mar. 280 The Command
BalconyI loved the lofty theatricality of the name.
2001 N.Y Times 14 Jan.
IX. 1 (
heading) With the cell phone so last millennium, the hip-hop elite loves Motorola, while Gore and blue-chippers favor BlackBerry.
c. To take pleasure in the existence of (a virtue, a practice, a state of things) in oneself, in others, or more generally.
OE ÆLFRIC Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) x. 264 Gif we hine [
sc. our heavenly home] habban
willa, we sceolon lufian mildheortnysse & clænnysse, &
sofæstnysse, & rihtwisnesse, &
eamodnysse.
OE WULFSTAN Institutes of Polity (Junius) 78 Eorlas and heretogan and
as worulddeman and eac swa gerefan agan
nydearfe,
æt hi riht lufian for Gode and for worulde.
c1225 (?
c1200)
St. Katherine (Royal) 194
ef ha nalde leauen
et ha
et lefde, & hare lahe luuien.
c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall
Sel. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 216 We moue..luuie
o ilek
inkes at he luued.
a1387 J. TREVISA tr. R. Higden
Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) VIII. 25 He..loved wel pees and quyet.
a1400 (
a1325)
Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 20114 Ne luued scho
noter fight ne strijf.
a1500 (?
a1425) tr.
Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 122 Euer lowynge ryght and verite.
1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 122 Thow luiffis treuth, gude Lord.
1653 I. WALTON Compl. Angler xiii. 246 All that hate contentions, and love quietnesse, and vertue, and Angling.
1685 T. KEN Expos. Church-catech. 57 O my God, O my Love, who dost love truth, and dost hate a lie.
1720 E. WARD Delights of Bottle iv. 44 How blest might ev'ry Station be, Would Men love Peace and Amitie!
1775 E. BURKE Corr. (1844) II. 26, I love firm government.
1837 E. BULWER-LYTTON Ernest Maltravers I.
II. i. 171 She was not a virtuous
woman
but she felt virtue and loved it.
1875 A. HELPS Ess. 59 He [
sc. a man of business] must learn betimes to love truth.
1902 Edinb. Rev. July 84 Universal humanity loves sharp practice.
1950 L. F
ISCHER in A. Koestler et al.
God that Failed 224 My years of pro-Sovietism have taught me that no one who loves people and peace should favour a dictatorship.
2003 Times (Nexis) 25 June 16 Perhaps the wishful thinking of some people on the Left, who hate America more than they love justice, led them to play down the threat.
d. To regard with favour, approve of (an action); to approve or agree to (an action, undertaking, etc.). Also with clause as object: to recommend that something be done. Obs.
eOE K
ING Æ
LFRED tr. Gregory
Pastoral Care (Hatton) xxxiv. 231
Suie suie we
gesyngia, gif we
oerra monna welgedona dæda ne
lufiga & ne
heriga.
OE Laws of Æ
elred II (Claud.)
VI. xxix. 254 La understande man georne,
æt eal swylc [
sc. swicollice dæda &
lalice unlaga] is to leanne & næfre to lufianne.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 656,
a andswerode seo kyning &
us cwæ: Saxulf la leof, ne
et an
et u geornest oc ealle
a ing et ic wat
et u geornest on ure Drihtnes halfe, swa ic lufe &
tye.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 656, And ic Oswi
Norhimbre kyning
eos mynstres freond &
es abbotes Saxulf hit loue mid Cristes mel... And we
es kyningas swustre Cyneburh & Cynesuith we hit louien.
?c1225 (?
a1200)
Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C. 6) (1972) 153 Ful wil,
et fule wi schiles
ettunge,..hunti
er efter,
wi woeunge,..luue [
c1230 Corpus Cambr. luuie,
a1250 Nero luuien,
a1400 Pepys sett] tide
oer stude for to cumen on swiche.
c1275 (?
a1200) L
AAMON Brut (Calig.) 4151 Al his folc luuede [
c1300 Otho louede]
ene ræd.
c1400 (?
c1380)
Patience l. 173, I lovue
at we lay lotes on ledes vchone, & who-so lympes
e losse, lay hym
er-oute.
3. trans. With clausal objects.
a. With inf. To take great pleasure (in doing something). Also (rarely) of things [compare classical Latin am
re, ancient Greek 
, in this sense]: to be accustomed (obs.).
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 254 Yef
ou louest to bi sobre and atempre..
wydra ine willes.
a1375 William of Palerne 162
e at louen & lyken to listen a-ni more.
a1500 (?
c1300)
Bevis of Hampton (Chetham) 82 He lovith not with me to rage.
1530 E. G
OSYNHYLL Dial. Betweene Comen Secretary & Jelowsy, She..loues to slepe at after none tyde.
1581 G. PETTIE tr. S. Guazzo
Ciuile Conuersat. (1586)
III. 126 Those women that loue not to curle vp their haire roistinglie, but vse to kembe it downe smoothlie.
1601 P. HOLLAND tr. Pliny
Hist. World I. 462 The Larch tree..loveth to grow in the same places.
1614 W. RALEIGH Hist. World I.
V. iii. §15. 511 Yong men..loue to seeme wiser than their fathers.
1626 BACON Sylva Sylvarum §703 Salmons and Smelts loue to get into Riuers, though it be against the Streame.
1705 F. FULLER Med. Gymnastica 116 They don't love to be told the Truth, tho' it is ever so necessary.
1744 J. THOMSON Spring in
Seasons (new ed.) 19 Down to the River, in whose ample Wave Their little Naids love to sport at large.
1859 J. R. BARTLETT Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) (at cited word), ‘I'd love to have that bonnet’.
1875 B. JOWETT tr. Plato
Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 246, I love to hear you wise men talk.
1910 J. BUCHAN Prester John i. 7 The bay itself is ringed with fine clean sands, where we lads of the burgh school loved to bathe in the warm weather
1955 O. KEEPNEWS & W. G
RAUER Pictorial Hist. Jazz xvi. 197 Nick Rongetti..loved to join the intermission pianist.
1973 ‘M. INNES’ Appleby's Answer iii. 29 Invite me as well. I'd love to meet the
inamorato.
2005 T. G
RANDIN &
C. JOHNSON Animals in Translation iii. 116 Normal baby pigs love to snuggle into each other.
b. With direct object and infinitive or clause: to desire or like (something to be done). Also (chiefly U.S.) with for preceding the notional subject of the infinitive clause.
c1475 (?
c1451)
Bk. Noblesse 52 The said juge Boecius loved rightwisnesse to be kept.
a1500 (?
c1378)
WYCLIF Eng. Wks. (1880) 440 He louyde hem not to be worldly riche.
1637 S. RUTHERFORD Let. in
Joshua Redivivus (1664) 332, I love it to be grieved when he [
sc. Christ] hideth his smiles.
1682 Heraclitus Ridens 27 June 2/1 Our Whigs don't love Justice should be executed without 'em.
1753 S. RICHARDSON Hist. Sir Charles Grandison IV. xxxiii. 225 When we are taken with any-body, we love they should be taken with us.
1924 Public Libraries July 367/1 Her grandmother loved for her to come to the story-hour because she retold the stories to the grandmother when she returned.
1967 E. G
INZBERG Middle-class Negro in White Man's World viii. 166, I would love for them to go to college.
1971 T. M
URPHY Whistle in Dark II. 51 We was waiting for you. We love you to jine (
join ) us.
2005 That's Life (
Sydney
)
22 June 13/3 ‘We'd love you to make our gift vouchers,’ UK-based surfwear label Kangaroo Poo told us.
c. With gerund or verbal noun as object: to enjoy, to take pleasure in (doing, being, etc.). Cf. LIKE v.1 Additions.
a1500 (
c1400)
Emaré (1908) 78 The emperour..myche loued playnge.
1545 R. ASCHAM Toxophilus f. 13, The best learned and sagest men in this Realme..both loue shoting and vse shoting.
1577 Merie & Pleasant Prognost. sig. Cvij, Beggars loue brawling, And [wretches loue wrawling].
1686 T. D'URFEY Common-wealth of Women III. i. 25 Nor do I love hunting other Creatures so well, but I had as lieve be hunted my self.
1732 in T. Fuller
Gnomologia 216 They love dancing well, that dance barefoot upon thorns.
1794 R. CUMBERLAND Box-lobby Challenge III. iii. 29 Never quarrel, but I love fighting.
1828 E. BULWER-LYTTON Pelham II. v. 46 For the rest, he loved trotting better than cantering.
1862 L. M. ALCOTT Jrnl. Nov. in
Life, Lett., & Jrnls. (1899) vii. 140, I love nursing, and
must let out my pent-up energy in some way.
1911 M. B
EERBOHM Let. 6 Dec. (1964) 211 You who..love being behind the scenes among T-lights and properties.
1957 I. C
ROSS God Boy (1958) i. 8, I would love shooting and kicking out at my enemies, not giving a darn what they try to do to me.
2004 Company Mar. 175/2, I love doing stunts, so getting thrown out of a fourth-floor window..was a high point.
d. With that clause as object. To desire or like (an outcome); to be pleased with (a situation or fact).
1739 H. BAKER &
J. MILLER tr. Molière
Amorous Quarrel IV. iii. 298, I love that Erastus should thus love me.
a1795 B. B
EDDOME Short Disc. Village Worship (1822) I. iv. 22 This is what we desire..from an intimate friend. If he be at a distance, we love that he should remember us.
a1802 H. HUNTER Serm. (1804) I. xiii. 251 Nothwithstanding he loves that you should inquire after him, he enjoins you so to do.
1903 A. C. DOYLE Adventures Gerard i. 38 You must not care, Etienne. And yet I love that you should care all the same.
1978 J. ROBINSON Perdido 20, I..do what he tells me as fast and quiet as I can. I love that he doesn't look to see if I do it right.
2004 Daily Tel. 24 May 23/5, I doubt it will happen, but I love that people are thinking it's possible.
4. trans. [Compare classical Latin amre, d
ligere, in this sense] Of a plant or (less commonly) an animal: to have a tendency to thrive in (a particular kind of situation).
a1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus
De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 252,
e tre
at bere thus
growe wioute tilyinge &
loue cley londe.
1577 B. GOOGE tr. C. Heresbach
Foure Bks. Husb. I. f. 27, Wheate delighteth in a leuell, riche, warme, and a drye ground: a shaddowy, weedy, and a hilly ground, it loueth not.
1601 P. HOLLAND tr. Pliny
Hist. World I. 462 The Pitch-tree loveth the mountains and cold grounds [L.
picea montes amat atque frigora].
1658 R. AUSTEN Observ. Bacon's Nat. Hist. 7, I have knowne Rose-trees in a shady place, which have not bore at all, its a tree that loves the sunne.
1706 G. LONDON & H. W
ISE tr. F. Gentil
Retir'd Gard'ner I. xi. 157 Fig-trees..love loose, hot ground.
1760 R. BROWN Compl. Farmer II. 85 All sorts of pease love limed or marled land.
1774 O. GOLDSMITH Hist. Earth IV. 22 Rabbits are found to love a warm climate, and to be incapable of bearing the cold of the north.
1796 C. MARSHALL Gardening (1813) xix. 331 Willow herb..loves moisture.
1866 B. TAYLOR Proposal in
Poems 257 The violet loves a sunny bank.
1881 Science 13 Aug. 381/2 Their gloomy recesses nourish only such plants as love thick shade.
1900 H. L. K
EELER Our Native Trees 319
Carpìnus caroliniàna... Common along the borders of streams and swamps, loves a deep moist soil.
1950 Ecol. Monographs 20 132/1 All blackbirds except the bronzed grackle love low wet ground.
1993 R. L. Z
IMDAHL Fund. Weed Sci. vi. 98 Acidophile (love acid soil, e.g., red sorrel, corn marigold).
PHRASES
P1. a. Proverbs.
a1225 (
c1200)
Vices & Virtues 139 Gladne
iuere luue godd.
c1405 (
c1390)
CHAUCER Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 672 It is signe of a gentil herte whan a man loueth & desireth to haue a good name.
a1475 How Good Wife wolde Pylgremage l. 36 in T. F. Mustanoja
How Good Wife taught her Daughter (1948) 174 He wyll low ys scheppys flesche, that wettytt his bred in woll.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. xvii, The olde prouerbe, loue me litle and loue me longe.
1553 T. WILSON Arte Rhetorique (1580) 192 A man maie loue his house well, and yet not ride vpon the ridge.
a1633 G. HERBERT Outlandish Prov. (1640) sig. A6
v, Love your neighbour, yet pull not downe your hedge.
1678 J. RAY Coll. Eng. Prov. (ed. 2) 238 To love at the door and leave at the hatch.
1721 J. KELLY Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 238 Love your Friend, but look to your self.
1853 R. C. TRENCH On Lessons in Proverbs iii. 56
A man may love his house well without riding the ridge; it is enough for a wise man to know what is precious to himself, without..evermore proclaiming it to the world.
1907 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 Mar. 77/1 Mrs. Bellew is a lady who cannot love either little or long. She..tires very quickly of the men who are irrestistibly drawn to her.
1991 Washington Times 14 Feb.
G3/5 ‘Love me a little less but longer’ is an old folk phrase. So is the observation that three things can't be hid: a cough, poverty and love.
b. love me, love my dog and variants: used proverbially to state that love or respect for a person extends to everything that person loves or represents; ‘take me as you find me’, ‘accept me as I am’; also in extended use.
Sometimes used with literal reference to a dog.
[After post-classical Latin qui me amat, amat et canem meum (see quot. a1153), or Middle French qui mayme il ayme mon chien (14th cent.; compare also quot. 1583):
a1153 ST. BERNARD Sermones: in Festo Sancti Michaelis 1. 3 Dicitur certe vulgari quodam proverbio: qui me amat, amat et canem meum.]
a1475 Friar & Boy (Brogyntyn) in J. O. Halliwell
Early Eng. Misc. (1855) 62 In olde termys it is fownd He that lovythe me lovythe my hound.
1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue II. ix. sig. Kiiii
v, Loue me, loue my dog.
1583 P. STUBBES Anat. Abuses I. sig. Pii, It is a..saying amongst all men, borowed from y
e french: Qui aime Iean, aime son chien, loue me, loue my dog.
1636 Bk. of Bulls I. 98 One making love to a countrey woman, having first kickt her sow, she told him the Proverbe condemn'd him, love me, love my dog.
1769 ‘J. W
AGSTAFFE’
Batchelor II. 69 For, love me, love my dog; love freedom, and you must love the Free-Press.
1864 TROLLOPE Can you Forgive Her? II. iii. 23, I shall [count you as my enemy],
certainly, if you attack Alice. Love me, love my dog.
1947 F. U
TLEY Last Chance China iii. 72 ‘Love me, love my dog.’ General Hurley's mistake in thinking that he could be lacking in affection for the Chinese Communists without incurring the violent opposition of their masters was immediately apparent.
2006 Financial Times (Nexis) 20 Nov. (FT Rep. section) 5 The..contract..was..a strategic imperative, despite the challenges... ‘It was a bit like love me, love my dog.’
P2. a. an (also as) you (or thou, etc.) love me: if (also since) you love me (used to reinforce a request). Now rare and arch.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Twelfth Night (1623)
II. iii. 59 And you loue me, let's doo't.
a1625 J. FLETCHER Chances I. ix, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher
Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aaa2
v/2, No more words, Nor no more children, (good sonne) as you love me.
1655 A. B
REWER Love-sick King III, To night? O fie upon't! an you love me Brother let it not be till to morrow morning, I beseech you.
1726 J. MITCHELL &
A. HILL Fatal Extravagance III. ix, Good Courtney, as you love me, join Your Help, in what I now propose to do.
1778 G. COLMAN Bonduca V. 43 No, as you love me, uncle! I will not eat it, if I do not fetch it.
1818 T. CARLYLE Early Lett. (1886) 148 Send a letter quickly, an thou love me.
1823 J. F. COOPER Pioneers I. i. 28
Nattyyou need say nothing of the shot, nor of where I am
goingremember, Natty, as you love me.
1880 Freeborn County Standard (
Albert Lea, Minnesota
)
(Electronic text) 25 Mar., Don't stare at him, ‘an' you love me’.
1917 ‘S. R
OHMER’
Si-Fan Mysteries xxxv. 264 But in waiting for one who is stealthily entering a room, don't, as you love me, take it for granted that he will enter
upright. [
1932 R. MACAULAY They were Defeated I. vi. 40 If ever you see me wanting to lampoon a man I envy, Robin, bid me give over, if you love me.]
b. I must love you and leave you (and variants): a formula used to indicate one's imminent departure.
1870 Harper's Mag. July 259/1 ‘I must love you and leave you.’ ‘So soon? But you will be coming again.’
1885 R. HOLLAND Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) 212
Love you and leave you, a common saying when any visitor is going to take his departure. ‘Well a' mun
love ye, and leave ye.’
1922 H. V. E
SMOND Law Divine II. 43 Well, after this little social intercourse, I must love you and leave you.
1960 K. AMIS Take Girl like You ii. 36 I'm afraid I shall have to love you and leave you.
1995 A. L
EVY Every Light in House Burnin' ix. 127 My aunt said, ‘Well, we're going to have to love you and leave you, I'm afraid.’ ‘So soon?’ my mum said.
c. to love them and leave them and variants: (of a man, esp. a heartless lover) to seduce and abandon women (chiefly in imper.).
1897 E. W. W
ILCOX Three Women I. 24 We love them, and leave them; deceive, and respect them.
a1925 C. P
ORTER in R. Kimball
Compl. Lyrics C. Porter (1983) (
title of song) Love 'em and leave 'em.
1930 Amer. Speech Dec. 92 Love'em and leave'em.
1938 W. G. HARDY Turn back River 33 Love 'em and leave 'em; that was the idea.
1946 K. TENNANT Lost Haven (1947) xvi. 259, I wouldn't try to keep me if I was you... Love me and let me leave.
1975 H. M
CC
UTCHEON Instrument of Vengeance vii. 123 ‘I have many interests.’ ‘But no girls?.. You just love them and leave them, no?’
1994 A. L. R
EYNOLDS Do Black Women hate Black Men ii. 13 If the norm in the black community is for young men to ‘love 'em and leave 'em’, it seems reasonable for the girl to retaliate.
P3. to love one's love with an A (with a B, etc.): a formula used in games of forfeit, in which players in turn repeat the formula, adding a reason (for loving, hating, etc.) using adjectives beginning with the letter in question.
[
1620 Swetnam Arraigned (Grosart) 24 A husband..so complete As if he had been pickt out of the Christ-Crosse row... Ile begin with A..comparing his good parts as thus: for A, hee is Amiable, Bountefull, Courteous..now for Z he's Zealous.]
1672 A. MARVELL Rehearsal Transpros'd I, in
Wks. (1776) II. 61 One would think that..you should have learnt when J.O. came into play, to love your love with an J, because he is judicious, though you hate your love with an J, because he is jealous: and then to love your love with an O, because he is oraculous, though you hate your love with an O, because he is obscure.
1678 S. BUTLER Hudibras III. i. 58 For these, you play at Purposes, And love your Loves with
A's, and
B's.
1769 H. BROOKE Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 168 The Play was introduced of, I love my love with an A because She's amiable, and so on through the Alphabet.
1813 T. MORTON Education II. i. 24, I love my love with a B, because he's bonny.
1864 DICKENS Our Mutual Friend (1865) I.
II. i. 168 I'll give you a clue to my trade, in a game of forfeits. I love my love with a B because she's Beautiful; I hate my love with a B because she is Brazen; I took her to the sign of the Blue Boar, and I treated her with Bonnets; her name's Bouncer, and she lives in Bedlam.
1894 A. B. GOMME Trad. Games I. 389 This [
sc. Minister's Cat] is apparently the same game as the well-known ‘I love my love with an A because she is amiable’... Forfeits were exacted for every failure or mistake.
1912 L. J. VANCE Destroying Angel xv. 217, I love my love with a P because he's Perfectly Pulchritudinous and Possesses the Power of Pleasing.
1946 G. F
INLETTER From Top of Stairs xv. 247 ‘I love my love with an A,’ began my aunt, ‘because he is amiable. I hate him because he is arrogant.’
2007 Times (Nexis) 10 Feb. 78 One of you picks a letter of the alphabet (let's say ‘J’). You begin by saying ‘I love my love with a J’, and then think up all sorts of reasons why. You might continue: ‘Because he is Jolly, he wears a Jacket, [etc.]’.
P4. a. In exclamations indicating exasperation, surprise, or other emphasis: (Lord) love you (also your heart) and variants.
1708 E. WARD Hudibras Redivivus II.
IX. 6 For none e'er knew 'em rest, (God love 'em) Until they'd pull'd down all above 'em.
1762 D. MALLET Poems on Several Occasions 30 Lord love us, how we apples swim!
1792 H. H. B
RACKENRIDGE Mod. Chivalry I. vii. 28 God love your shoul, said he, dont be after bateing me.
?1800 S. T. COLERIDGE Coll. Lett. (1956) I. 568 As to the state of his mind, it is that which it was & will be. God love him! he has a most incurable Forehead.
c1810 W. HICKEY Mem. (1913) II. i. 10 Lord love your honour, to be sure I will.
1821 SCOTT Pirate I. i. 15 But, Heaven love you, Mr Mertoun, think what you are purposing.
1833 T. HOOK Parson's Daughter II. vii. 140 Lord love your heart,
sira path's never straight.
1841 E. BULWER-LYTTON Night & Morning II.
II. ix. 15 Quiet! Lord love you! never heard a noisier little urchin!
1843 DICKENS Christmas Carol iii. 85 They said, it was a shame to quarrel upon Christmas Day. And so it was! God love it, so it was!
1894 R. BRIDGES Feast of Bacchus II. 579 Lord love you, I'm not surprised at any one wanting to marry you.
1898 J. D. BRAYSHAW Slum Silhouettes 1 Mister Bloomfiel'? Lor' lummy! there ain't no misters 'ere.
1916 ‘TAFFRAIL’ Pincher Martin xii. 218 ‘Lord love us!..d'you mean to
say’Words failed him.
1938 ‘J. BELL’ Port of London Murders xv. 247 ‘'Lor love us!’ I says to meself. ‘Something's up.’
1954 W. SANSOM (
title) Lord love us.
1973 P. O'B
RIAN HMS Surprise (1996) iii. 68 Here's coffee, sir, and a rasher. Do get summat in your gaff, sir, God love us.
2004 H. S
TRACHAN Make a Skyf, Man! ii. 13, I don't mean we were dumb or anything like that, Lord love you, no.
b. Similarly (Lord) love a duck and variants.
1898 J. D. BRAYSHAW Slum Silhouettes 141 Mine? Lor' luv a duck! No, that's Sal Hogan's little lot.
1922 J. JOYCE Ulysses II. 170 Lord love a duck, he said, look at what I'm standing drinks to!
1934 T. S. ELIOT Rock ii. 65 What's that? Lor-love-a-duck, it's the missus!
1955 M. ALLINGHAM Beckoning Lady iv. 55 Orf come 'is 'at, and lord luva duck!
1984 C. K
IGHTLY Country Voices i. 39 We was glad 'nough to 'ave that, when we was hayin': 'cause we 'ad to goo 'til half past eight at night. Cor, love-a-duck!
1997 B. M
ACL
AVERTY Grace Notes (1998) 9 It's their right, their heritage. God love a duck. Bowler-hatted dunderheads. Gather-ups. The Orange dis-Order, I call them.
P5. he loves me, he loves me not and variants.: a formula used in divining games. Also in extended use.
Traditionally the formula is recited while petals are pulled in turn from a flower head. The alternative associated with the final petal represents the ‘true’ answer.
1821 tr. Goethe
Faustus 51 He loves
meloves me not.
He loves
menot. (
plucks the last leaf, and exclaims with delight) He loves me!
1893 C. D. B
ELL Poems Old & New 171 She plucks the leaves and casts them in the stream. ‘He loves me,
loves me not,
’she sadly says.
1919 H. T
RENCH Napoleon II. i. 36 He loves me, he loves me
notyes, no, yes,
noup to the last petal's most anxious flutter, eh? Just so, dear Méneval, Austria and England will arrive at an idea..as to which empire I am going to invade!
1946 A. UTTLEY Country Things v. 64 He loves me. He don't. He'll have me. He won't. He would if he could, But he can't.
1959 I. O
PIE &
P. OPIE Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xv. 339 Much energy and calculation is devoted to skipping through the alphabet...the following sequence being that used by an 11-year-old Portsmouth girl: Does he love me? Yes, no, yes, no... Will he marry me? Yes, no, yes, no.
1971 Guardian 10 July 11/2 Eric Lubbock's private game of ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ with press and politicians is coming to a blessed end.
1992 Century Home Feb.-Mar. 17/2 Young people created the familiar ‘petal pulling’ tradition of ‘he loves me, he loves me not.’
COMPOUNDS
C1. In the names of plants.
love-and-tear-it n. [corruption of scientific Latin Lavatera, genus name: see LAVATERA n.] Eng. regional (now rare) the tree mallow, genus Lavatera (family Malvaceae).
1880 A. S
ARTORIS Past Hours II. 55 ‘*Love-and-tear-it!
’the name..down in our part of the world for..the mallow.
love-man n. Obs. rare goosegrass, Galium aparine (family Rubiaceae); also called cleavers.
1598 J. FLORIO Worlde of Wordes,
Philantropo, the herbe goose-grasse or *loue man.
1611 R. COTGRAVE Dict. French & Eng. Tongues,
Riéble, Cleauer,..Loue-man, Goose-grasse.
C2. love-pot adj. Obs. drunken.
1611 J. FLORIO Worlde of Wordes,
Berghinellare, to gad abrode a gossoping as a pratling *loue-pot woman.
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