Etymologically
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lovable

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈlʌvəbəl/[1]

Etymology

It was formed from Middle English loven (“to love”) + -able,[2][3][4] and is the verb love with the suffix -able.[5][6][7][8] Early spellings include lufabul, lufabyll and luffable.[3][2] The OED compares the earlier loveful in the same sense.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Deserving love, likely to be loved: before 1400, in the English translation of Richard Rolle's Oleum Effusum, which calls the name of Jesus lufabul.[6][3] Etymonline dates the word to the mid-14th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word could also mean "loving, affectionate".[3] The modern sense, attracting or deserving affection, has been constant since then;[6][7] a sense "friendly" is recorded only once, in 1691.[6] The derivatives lovableness and lovably appear in the early 19th century, and lovability in the mid-19th.[7]

Timeline

  • before 1400 – deserving to be loved; attractive, pleasing.[6][3]
  • c. 1400 – loving, affectionate.[3]
  • 1691 – friendly (obsolete, rare).[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having qualities that make people feel affection; endearing: a lovable old dog.[9][2][6]

Word family

  • lovability
  • lovably
  • lovableness
  • unlovable
  • love
  • lovely

Usage notes

The spelling loveable is less common than lovable.[2][9] The OED and the Middle English Dictionary also record an obsolete lovable meaning praiseworthy or excellent, from about 1422 to 1728, formed from a different Middle English verb loven; in early texts the two can be hard to tell apart.[6][3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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)
  4. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins