Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Lover
Lov′er
(lŭv′ẽr)
, Noun.
1.
One who loves; one who is in love; – usually limited, in the singular, to a person of the male sex.
Gower.
Love is blind, and
The pretty follies that themselves commit.
lovers
can not seeThe pretty follies that themselves commit.
Shakespeare
2.
A friend; one strongly attached to another; one who greatly desires the welfare of any person or thing;
as, a
. lover
of his countryI slew my best
lover
for the good of Rome. Shakespeare
3.
One who has a strong liking for anything, as books, science, or music.
“A lover of knowledge.” T. Burnet.
Webster 1828 Edition
Lover
LOV'ER
, n.1.
One who loves; one who has a tender affection, particularly for a female.Love is blind, and lovers cannot see -
2.
A friend; one who regards with kindness.Your brother and his lover have embraced.
3.
One who likes or is pleased with any thing; as a lover of books or of science; a lover of wine; a lover of religion.Lover and loover. [See Louver.]
Definition 2024
lover
lover
See also: løver
English
Alternative forms
- lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)
Noun
lover (plural lovers)
- One who loves and cares for another person in a romantic way; a sweetheart, love, soulmate, boyfriend, or girlfriend.
- Shakespeare
- Love is blind, and lovers cannot see / The pretty follies that themselves commit.
- Shakespeare
- A sexual partner.
- A person who loves something.
- 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 18,
- But tho' a conscientious disciplinarian, he was no lover of authority for mere authority's sake.
- a lover of fine wines
- a lover of his country
- 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 18,
- (West Country, with "my") An informal term of address for any friend.
- All right, me lover?
Synonyms
- (one who loves and cares): love, love interest, sweetheart, significant other, see also Wikisaurus:lover
- (sexual partner): See Wikisaurus:sexual partner
- (person who loves something): connoisseur
- (any friend): See Wikisaurus:friend
Derived terms
- book lover, booklover
- lover's lane / lovers' lane
Translations
one who loves another person
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sexual partner
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person who loves something
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Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Middle Dutch lover, originally the plural of loof. As with other words with plurals in -er, eventually this was substituted with -eren, creating loveren. This new plural was then reanalysed as a separate noun and a new singular form lover was back-formed from it.
Noun
lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje n)
Synonyms
Anagrams
French
Etymology
A 17th century borrowing from North Sea Germanic language verb "lofen, lufen". The 1986 Dictionnaire de l'Académie française identifies the source as Low German (Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German); Jan de Vries' Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek (which identifies it as a possible cognate of Dutch leuver) suggests East Frisian instead.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɔve/
Verb
lover
Conjugation
Conjugation of lover (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | lover | avoir lové | |||||
| gerund | en lovant | en ayant lové | |||||
| present participle | lovant /lɔ.vɑ̃/ |
||||||
| past participle | lové /lɔ.ve/ |
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| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | love /lɔv/ |
loves /lɔv/ |
love /lɔv/ |
lovons /lɔ.vɔ̃/ |
lovez /lɔ.ve/ |
lovent /lɔv/ |
| imperfect | lovais /lɔ.vɛ/ |
lovais /lɔ.vɛ/ |
lovait /lɔ.vɛ/ |
lovions /lɔ.vjɔ̃/ |
loviez /lɔ.vje/ |
lovaient /lɔ.vɛ/ |
|
| past historic1 | lovai /lɔ.ve/ |
lovas /lɔ.va/ |
lova /lɔ.va/ |
lovâmes /lɔ.vam/ |
lovâtes /lɔ.vat/ |
lovèrent /lɔ.vɛʁ/ |
|
| future | loverai /lɔ.vʁe/ |
loveras /lɔ.vʁa/ |
lovera /lɔ.vʁa/ |
loverons /lɔ.vʁɔ̃/ |
loverez /lɔ.vʁe/ |
loveront /lɔ.vʁɔ̃/ |
|
| conditional | loverais /lɔ.vʁɛ/ |
loverais /lɔ.vʁɛ/ |
loverait /lɔ.vʁɛ/ |
loverions /lɔ.və.ʁjɔ̃/ |
loveriez /lɔ.və.ʁje/ |
loveraient /lɔ.vʁɛ/ |
|
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | love /lɔv/ |
loves /lɔv/ |
love /lɔv/ |
lovions /lɔ.vjɔ̃/ |
loviez /lɔ.vje/ |
lovent /lɔv/ |
| imperfect1 |
lovasse /lɔ.vas/ |
lovasses /lɔ.vas/ |
lovât /lɔ.va/ |
lovassions /lɔ.va.sjɔ̃/ |
lovassiez /lɔ.va.sje/ |
lovassent /lɔ.vas/ |
|
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | love /lɔv/ |
— | lovons /lɔ.vɔ̃/ |
lovez /lɔ.ve/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||