lover English · revision 6676

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1225}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlʌvə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈlʌvɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, formed from the verb [[love]] and [[-er]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) Old English had [[m|ang|lufend]] for a male lover and [[m|ang|lufestre]] for a female one.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One in love with a person of the opposite sex: before 1225 in the OED, the early 13th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ One who feels affection or regard for another, a friend, is from before 1340,^(OED 1989) and in the spiritual sense, as in ''Jesu, lover of my soul'', from about 1300.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) 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.^(Trench 1859) One who has a liking for a thing or pursuit, as a ''lover of music'', is from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) An illicit lover, a paramour, is from 1611,^(OED 1989) and lover as a form of address, chiefly in the west of England, from 1911.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Lover's leap'', usually a local crag with a fanciful story, is by 1712, and ''lovers' lane'' by 1853.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1225 – one in love.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – in the spiritual sense.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-14th century – one fond of a thing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1611 – a paramour.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1911 – as a form of address.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person having a sexual or romantic relationship with another, often outside [[marriage]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''lovers'': a couple in love.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who is fond of something: ''a music lover''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[loverly]]

+ * [[loverless]]

+ * [[loverlike]]

+ * [[nonlover]]

+ * [[booklover]]

+ * [[lovers' lane]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[love]]

+ * [[lovely]]

+ * [[beloved]]

+ * [[leman]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}