Liebe

Forms

Liebe f (genitive Liebe, plural Lieben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German liebe, inherited from Old High German liubī, an abstract noun formed only in German from the adjective lieb (“dear”), liob.^[2][3][4][5] A form lioba appears beside it from the 11th century.^[3][1] The adjective continues Proto-Germanic *leubaz (“dear, beloved”), also found in Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃 (liufs), Old Norse ljúfr, Old English lēof (English lief) and Old Frisian liāf.^[2][6]

The older words for love were formed from the zero grade of the same root: Old English lufu (English love), Old Saxon luba and Old High German luba.^[2][1] The Grimms stress that the Old English noun shares only the root with the German one.^[5] Outside Germanic, Russian любить (ljubítʹ, “to love”) and Latin libīdō (“desire, lust”) belong here.^[2][3] The same Germanic root is in loben, erlauben and glauben.^[2][3][4]

Pfeifer and Duden set up a root Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, desire”).^[3][4] Kluge instead starts from a meaning “to be in disorder, be excited”, comparing Ancient Greek ἀλύω (alúō, “to wander about, be beside oneself”), because the Sanskrit verb related to the root meant “to go astray” before it meant “to desire”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German liubī is recorded from the 9th century.^[3] The neuter liob (modern Lieb), found in Otfrid (863–871), Notker and glosses, meant “love, joy, good fortune, pleasure”, as in the pair liob unde leid “joy and sorrow”.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German liebe still meant above all the pleasure one feels in or through something, “joy, kindness, favour”;^[10][3] Ulrich von Liechtenstein could write that constant liebe is called minne.^[10][3] From the 15th and 16th centuries the word took on its present meaning, displacing Minne, which had become indecent.^[2][3][11] Early New High German used it also for social goodwill and for the favour of a superior.^[12]

Luther explained it as being well disposed to someone with all one's heart, and the philosophers of the 18th century (Gellert, Kant) attempted definitions of it.^[5] Liebe machen “to make love” is a loan translation of English to make love.^[13] English has borrowed Liebestod (1889), the love-death of Wagner's Tristan.^[14]

Timeline

• 9th century – Old High German liubī first appears.^[3]
• 863–871 – Otfrid uses liob “love, joy”.^[7]
• 11th century – The form lioba appears.^[3]
• 15th–16th century – The modern sense, displacing Minne.^[2][3]
• 1889 – English borrows Liebestod.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. love, strong affection for a person close to one: die Liebe einer Mutter zu ihrem Kind.^[13][1]
2. Romantic love: a bond of physical and emotional attraction to another person: Sie heirateten aus Liebe.^[13][1]
3. (euphemistic) Sexual relations: käufliche Liebe “prostitution”.^[13][1]
4. Love of or devotion to a thing or idea: seine Liebe zur Musik.^[13][11]
5. A loved person: Sie war seine erste Liebe.^[11]
6. A love affair.^[1][11]

Word family

• liebevoll
• lieblos
• Liebschaft
• Liebelei
• Nächstenliebe
• Liebeskummer
• Liebesbrief

Related words

• lieb
• lieben
• Liebling
• lieblich
• Liebchen
• Minne
• loben
• glauben
• English love
• English lief

Usage notes

Common phrases are Liebe auf den ersten Blick “love at first sight” and the proverbs alte Liebe rostet nicht and Liebe macht blind.^[13] Brennende Liebe is the name of a plant with scarlet flowers.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 576
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 512
5. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 917
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 1335
9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 203
10. ^ a b Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1902
11. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
12. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
13. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
14. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de