amor

Forms

amor m (genitive amōris); third declension^[1] Plautus has the old nominative amōs, like honōs and labōs.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin amō + -or, an action noun from the verb “to love”.^[3][4][1] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *amā- (“to take, hold”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃mh₃- (“to take hold of”), the Latin sense having developed from “take someone's hand” to “regard as a friend”.^[4] Following Schrijver, he notes that the stative sense of the verb and the noun point to a stative verb ⟨*amā-ē-⟩, which would have arisen after Proto-Italic.^[4]

Compare Ancient Greek ὄμνυμι (ómnumi, “to swear”) and Old Irish námae (“enemy”).^[4] Köbler calls the origin unclear and mentions a word for “mother” (⟨*amma⟩) or an Etruscan source.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius on.^[4][5] Ennius writes of Medea amōre saevō saucia, “wounded by cruel love”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Amor is first sexual passion, love, also illicit love; in the plural (amōrēs) it is the person loved, and a love affair.^[3] It is also affection for relatives and friends, between peoples, and for one's country (amor patriae, amor reī pūblicae).^[3] Personified, Amor is the god of love, Cupid;^[3][1] the poets use amōrēs of love songs and love stories.^[3] It extends to fondness for things and pursuits, and to strong desire (sī tantus amor).^[3]

In Medieval Latin it also meant a token of friendship, an amicable settlement of a dispute, a ruler's favour, and discretion (ad amōrem “at will”).^[6]

English amour “love”, recorded from about 1300, comes from it through Old French.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – First found in Naevius.^[4][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the plural amōrēs for the beloved: ad amōrēs meōs.^[3][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: amōre saevō saucia.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of amor reī pūblicae.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil: amor … patriae.^[3][5]
• c. 1300 – English amour, through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sexual passion, love;^[3][2] illicit love.^[3]
2. (usually plural) The person loved, one's beloved.^[3][1]
3. A love affair;^[3] sexual intercourse.^[3]
4. Love for relatives or friends, affection;^[3] amor patriae, love of one's country.^[3]
5. An object of affection.^[3]
6. (personified) Love, the god of love, Cupid.^[3][1]
7. (plural) A love song, love story.^[3]
8. Fondness for, attachment to (possessions, pursuits).^[3]
9. Strong desire, yearning.^[3]
10. (Medieval Latin) A token of friendship; an amicable settlement of a dispute; a ruler's favour.^[6]

Word family

• amōrābundus
• amorifer
• amorificus

Related words

• amō
• amīcus
• amātor
• English amour

Usage notes

Lewis and Short set amor, like amō, as love from inclination, against cāritās, which like dīligō is love from esteem.^[2] Döderlein draws the same line between amāre and dīligere.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper