lufu

Forms

lufu f (strong ō-stem; genitive singular lufe, nominative plural lufa)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *lubu, from Proto-Germanic *lubō (“love”).^[1][2][3] The same noun is Old Frisian luve, Old Saxon luva, Old High German luba and the second part of Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐍂𐌿𐌻𐌿𐌱𐍉 (broþrulubō, “brotherly love”).^[4][2][5]

EWA explains it as a zero-grade formation of the root Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to be dear, please”), with no exact match outside Germanic.^[4][6] Other forms of the root are the adjective lēof “dear” and the noun lof “praise”.^[5][2] Beside the strong forms the noun has weak ones, which the Middle English Dictionary calls Mercian.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in the will of Badanoth Beotting (845×853), whose single sheet is held to be contemporary: & ic biddo higon for Godes lufe ðæt ... “and I ask the community, for the love of God, that ...”.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

The word covers love between people, warm affection and attachment, love of one's country (for hiora eardes lufan in the Boethius), and the love of God and of one's neighbour; in glosses it renders Latin “amor”, “caritas” and “dilectio”.^[11][12][6] It also means favour and friendliness, and in law an amicable settlement;^[13][12] for Godes lufan and for minre lufan mean “for God's sake”, “for my sake”, sometimes with a plural of singular sense.^[13][12] Poetry has compounds such as eardlufu and wīflufu.^[7]

As Middle English love it kept these senses, and by the early thirteenth century also meant a beloved person; it is now English love.^[8][14]

Timeline

• 845×853 – for Godes lufe in the will of Badanoth Beotting, a contemporary single sheet.^[9][10]
• s. ix med. – laeððu fore lufan minre “hatred for my love” for Latin “odium pro dilectione mea” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[15][10]
• 890×897 – ðære lufan tacen “the token of love” in the Pastoral Care.^[16][10]
• s. x/xi – the compound luftācen “love token” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][11]
• early 13th century – Middle English love “a beloved person”.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. love, affection, attachment.^[11][12]
2. the love of God and of one's neighbour, charity.^[6][11]
3. favour, liking, friendliness.^[5][13]
4. (law) an amicable settlement.^[13][6]
5. for ... lufan: for the sake of.^[13]

Word family

• lufian
• luflīċ
• lufsum
• luftācen
• eardlufu
• hēahlufu
• mōdlufu
• wīflufu

Descendants

• Middle English love (→ English love; Scots luve; Scots lufe)^[1]

Related words

• lēof
• lof

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 249
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
5. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 207
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lufu
7. ^ a b Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. lufu
8. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
9. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1510
10. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
11. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 648
12. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 622
13. ^ a b c d e Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 131
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344