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lover

Etymology and origin of the English word lover

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1225

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈlʌvə/ (UK); /ˈlʌvɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, formed from the verb love and -er.[2][3][4] Old English had lufend for a male lover and lufestre for a female one.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One in love with a person of the opposite sex: before 1225 in the OED, the early 13th century in Etymonline.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

One who feels affection or regard for another, a friend, is from before 1340,[5] and in the spiritual sense, as in Jesu, lover of my soul, from about 1300.[5][4] Trench notes that lover once meant simply a friend, as in Coverdale's sinners also love their lovers, and that it later came to imply sexual love, and for a time only the man.[6] One who has a liking for a thing or pursuit, as a lover of music, is from the mid-14th century.[2] An illicit lover, a paramour, is from 1611,[5] and lover as a form of address, chiefly in the west of England, from 1911.[5][2] Lover's leap, usually a local crag with a fanciful story, is by 1712, and lovers' lane by 1853.[2]

Timeline

  • before 1225 – one in love.[5]
  • c. 1300 – in the spiritual sense.[5]
  • mid-14th century – one fond of a thing.[2]
  • 1611 – a paramour.[5]
  • 1911 – as a form of address.[5][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person having a sexual or romantic relationship with another, often outside marriage.
  2. lovers: a couple in love.
  3. A person who is fond of something: a music lover.

Word family

  • loverly
  • loverless
  • loverlike
  • nonlover
  • booklover
  • lovers' lane
  • love
  • lovely
  • beloved
  • leman

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
Cite this entry

“Lover.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/lover. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·