lover

See also: løver and Lover

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English lovere, luffer, lufere, equivalent to love +‎ -er.

Alternative forms

• lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlʌvɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈlʌvə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lov‧er
• Rhymes: -ʌvə(ɹ)

Noun

lover (plural lovers)

1. One who loves and cares for another person in a romantic way; a sweetheart, love, soulmate, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse.

   Synonyms: love, love interest, spouse, sweetheart, significant other; see also Thesaurus:lover

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi], page 170, column 2:

     […] loue is blinde, and louers cannot ſee / The pretty follies that themſelues commit, […]

   • 1976, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “Song For Sharon”, in Hejira:

     Well there's a wide wide world of noble causes / And lovely landscapes to discover / But all I really want to do right now / Is find another lover

   • 2014 September 23, Elle King, Dave Bassett, “Ex's & Oh's”, in Love Stuff‎^[1], performed by Elle King:

     Now, there's one in California who's been cursing my name / 'Cause I found me a better lover in the UK, hey, hey / Until I made my getaway

   • 2016, David Boulter, Stuart A. Staples (lyrics and music), “Like Only Lovers Can”, in The Waiting Room, performed by Tindersticks:

     We can only hurt each other the way that lovers can / So where do we go, where do we hide now?

2. A sexual partner, especially one with whom someone is having an affair.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sexual partner

   • 2006, Peifer Yann, Reuter Manuel (lyrics and music), “Bad Boy”, in Everytime We Touch, performed by Cascada, →OCLC:

     Be my bad boy, be my man / Be my weekend lover, but don't be my friend / You can be my bad boy, but understand / That I don't need you in my life again

   • 2018 January 17, "Libra Woman: Personality Traits: Love & More", Astrology.com [2]

     A Libra woman seems to always be in love - either with her long term partner or with an ever-changing series of rotating lovers.

3. A person who loves something.

   Synonym: connoisseur

   a lover of fine wines

   a lover of his/her own country

   • 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XVIII.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC, page 279:

     But though a conscientious disciplinarian he was no lover of authority for mere authority's sake.

4. (West Country, with "my") An informal term of address for any friend.

   All right, me lover?

Usage notes

• In the 1980s and 1990s, the term "lover" was commonly used for a long-term committed romantic partner, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community. Subsequently, this usage has become less common, usually in favour of partner.

Derived terms

• birdlover
• boylover
• catlover
• childlover
• cyberlover
• doglover
• girllover
• homolover
• loverboy
• loverdom
• lovered
• loveress
• lovergirl
• loverhood
• loverless
• loverlike
• loverly
• loverman
• loverwise
• manlover
• motherlover
• nonlover
• womanlover

 

Compound words and expressions

• alright me lover / alright my lover
• Bambi lover
• book lover / booklover
• butt lover
• diaper lover
• free lover
• fun-lover
• land-lover
• Latin lover
• lover boy
• lover man / lover-man
• lover's lane / lovers' lane
• mountain lover
• nature lover / nature-lover
• nigger lover / nigger-lover
• word-lover

Descendants

• → German: Lover

Translations

one who loves another person

• Alviri-Vidari: عاشوق (āššuq)
• Arabic: عَاشِق m (ʕāšiq), مُحِبّ m (muḥibb), عَشِيق (ʕašīq)
• Armenian: սիրահար (hy) (sirahar)
• Azerbaijani: aşiq (az)
• Bashkir: ғашиҡ (ğaşiq)
• Belarusian: палюбо́ўнік m (paljubóŭnik), палюбо́ўніца f (paljubóŭnica), каха́нак m (kaxának), каха́нка f (kaxánka)
• Bengali: প্রেমিক (bn) (premik), প্রেমিকা (bn) f (premika)
• Bulgarian: любо́вник (bg) m (ljubóvnik), любо́вница (bg) f (ljubóvnica)
• Catalan: amant (ca) m or f
• Cebuano: uyab
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 戀人／恋人 (zh) (liànrén), 情人 (zh) (qíngrén), 愛人／爱人 (zh) (àiren)

• Crimean Tatar: sevgili, (northern dialect) süygili
• Czech: milenec (cs) m, milenka (cs) f
• Danish: elsker c, elskerinde c
• Dutch: minnaar (nl) m, minnares (nl) f
• Esperanto: amanto, amantino
• Faroese: sjeikur m, unnusta f
• Finnish: rakastaja (fi), rakas (fi)
• French: amoureux (fr) m, amoureuse (fr) f
• Galician: amador m, amante (gl) m or f
• Georgian: შეყვარებული (šeq̇varebuli)
• German: Geliebter (de) m, Geliebte (de) f, Liebender (de) m, Liebende (de) f
• Greek: εραστής (el) m (erastís), ερωμένη (el) f (eroméni)

  Ancient Greek: ἐραστής m (erastḗs)

• Hebrew: אָהוּב m (ahúv), מְאַהֵב (he) m (m'ahév)
• Hindi: प्रेमी (hi) m (premī), प्रेमिका (hi) f (premikā)
• Hungarian: szerelem (hu) (only with possessive suffixes in this sense), kedves (hu), pár (hu)
• Icelandic: ástmaður m, ástkona f
• Italian: amante (it) m or f
• Japanese: 恋人 (ja) (こいびと, koibito), 恋人 (ja) (あいじん, aijin)
• Kazakh: ашына (aşyna)
• Korean: 애인(愛人) (ko) (aein)
• Kyrgyz: ойнош (oynoş)
• Latin: amātor (la) m, amātrix (la) f, amāns (la) m or f
• Macedonian: љубовник m (ljubovnik), љубовница f (ljubovnica)
• Malayalam: കാമുകൻ (ml) m (kāmukaṉ)
• Maori: whakaaweawe, kairoro, ipo, tahu, tau (mi), tau o te ate, makai, whaiāipo
• Middle English: lovere
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: elsker (no) m (male), elskerinne m or f (female)

  Nynorsk: elskar m, elskarinne f

• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: люблѥникъ m (ljubljenikŭ)

• Old English: lufiend m
• Old Occitan: amador m
• Persian: عاشق (fa) ('âšeq), دوستدار (fa) (dustdâr), خاطرخواه (fa) (xâter-xâh), دلداده (fa) (deldâde)
• Polish: ukochany (pl) m, ukochana (pl) f
• Portuguese: amante (pt) m or f
• Romanian: iubit (ro) m, iubită (ro) f, amant (ro) m, amantă (ro) f
• Russian: любо́вник (ru) m (ljubóvnik), любо́вница (ru) f (ljubóvnica), возлю́бленный (ru) m (vozljúblennyj), возлю́бленная (ru) f (vozljúblennaja), влюблённый (ru) m (vljubljónnyj), влюблённая f (vljubljónnaja) (enamoured)
• Scottish Gaelic: leannan m, gràdh (gd) m, cuspair m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: љубавник m, љубавница f, швалер m, швалерка f

  Roman: ljubavnik (sh) m, ljubavnica (sh) f, švaler (sh) m, švalerka (sh) f

• Slovak: milenec m, milenka (sk) f
• Slovene: ljubimec (sl) m
• Spanish: amante (es) m or f, enamorado (es) m, enamorada (es) f
• Swahili: mpenzi (sw)
• Swedish: älskare (sv) m, älskarinna (sv) f, älskande (sv) c
• Tajik: ошиқ (ošiq)
• Telugu: ప్రియుడు (te) (priyuḍu) (male), ప్రియురాలు (te) (priyurālu) (female)
• Thai: คู่รัก (th) (kûu-rák), คนรัก (kon-rák)
• Tok Pisin: pren
• Turkish: sevgili (tr)
• Ukrainian: коха́нок (uk) m (koxánok), коха́нець (uk) m (koxánecʹ), коха́нка (uk) f (koxánka)
• Urdu: عاشق (ur) m ('āšiq)
• Uyghur: يار (yar)
• Vietnamese: người yêu (vi) (𠊛𢞅)
• Welsh: cariad (cy) m or f
• Yiddish: קאָכאַניק m (kokhanik), קאָכאַנקע f (kokhanke), קאָכאַנטשיק m (kokhantshik), געליבטער m (gelibter), געליבטע f (gelibte), ליובאָווניק m (lyubovnik), ליובאָווניצע f (lyubovnitse)
• Yup'ik: kenkesteka

sexual partner

• Albanian: dashnor (sq) m, dashnore (sq) f
• Arabic: عَاشِق m (ʕāšiq), مُحِبّ m (muḥibb), عَشِيق (ʕašīq)
• Armenian: սիրած (hy) (sirac), սիրեկան (hy) (sirekan) (male), սիրուհի (hy) (siruhi) (female)
• Belarusian: палюбо́ўнік m (paljubóŭnik), палюбо́ўніца f (paljubóŭnica), каха́нак m (kaxának), каха́нка f (kaxánka)
• Bulgarian: любо́вник (bg) m (ljubóvnik), любо́вница (bg) f (ljubóvnica)
• Burmese: သယောက် (my) (sa.yauk) (of a woman), လင်ငယ် (my) (langngai) (of a woman)
• Catalan: amant (ca) m or f, amistançat (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 情人 (zh) (qíngrén)

• Czech: milenec (cs) m, milenka (cs) f
• Danish: elsker c, elskerinde c
• Dutch: minnaar (nl) m, minnares (nl) f
• Esperanto: amanto, amantino, amdonanto, amdonantino
• Finnish: rakastaja (fi)
• French: amant (fr) m, amante (fr) f
• Galician: amante (gl) m or f, amigo (gl) m, querido (gl) m
• Georgian: საყვარელი (saq̇vareli) (female)
• German: Liebhaber (de) m, Liebhaberin (de) f
• Greek: εραστής (el) m (erastís), ερωμένη (el) f (eroméni), αγαπητικός (el) m (agapitikós), αγαπητικιά (el) (agapitikiá)

  Ancient: ἐραστής m (erastḗs)

• Hungarian: szerető (hu)
• Italian: amante (it) m or f
• Japanese: 愛人 (ja) (あいじん, aijin)
• Korean: 애인(愛人) (ko) (aein)
• Latin: amāns (la), amator (la) m, amātrix (la) f
• Macedonian: љубовник m (ljubovnik), љубовница f (ljubovnica)
• Malayalam: കാമുകൻ (ml) m (kāmukaṉ)
• Middle English: lovere
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: elsker (no) m (male), elskerinne m or f (female)

• Polish: amant (pl) m, amantka f, kochanek (pl) m, kochanka (pl) f, kochanica f
• Portuguese: amante (pt) m or f
• Romanian: amant (ro) m, amantă (ro) f, ibovnic (ro) m (popular), ibovnică (ro) f (popular)
• Russian: любо́вник (ru) m (ljubóvnik), любо́вница (ru) f (ljubóvnica)
• Sanskrit: कामुक (sa) m (kāmuka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: љубавник m, љубавница f

  Roman: ljubavnik (sh) m, ljubavnica (sh) f

• Slovak: milenec m, milenka (sk) f
• Slovene: ljubimec (sl) m, ljubimka f, ljubček m, ljubica f
• Spanish: amante (es) m or f
• Swahili: mpenzi (sw)
• Swedish: älskare (sv) c, älskarinna (sv) c
• Ukrainian: коха́нок (uk) m (koxánok), коха́нець (uk) m (koxánecʹ), коха́нка (uk) f (koxánka)
• Vietnamese: người tình bạn tình (𠊛𢞅)
• Yiddish: קאָכאַניק m (kokhanik), קאָכאַנקע f (kokhanke), קאָכאַנטשיק m (kokhantshik), געליבטער m (gelibter), געליבטע f (gelibte), ליובאָווניק m (lyubovnik), ליובאָווניצע f (lyubovnitse)

person who loves something

• Arabic: مغرم
• Armenian: սիրահար (hy) (sirahar)
• Asturian: amante m or f
• Bulgarian: любо́вник (bg) m (ljubóvnik)
• Catalan: amant (ca) m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 愛好者／爱好者 (zh) (àihàozhě)

• Czech: milovník (cs) m, milovnice f
• Finnish: rakastaja (fi)
• Galician: amante (gl) m or f, amador m
• Georgian: მოყვარული (moq̇varuli)
• German: Kenner (de) m, Kennerin (de) f, -freund m, -freundin f, -liebhaber m, -liebhaberin f
• Greek: λάτρης (el) m or f (látris), θαυμαστής (el) m (thavmastís), θαυμάστρια (el) f (thavmástria)
• Hungarian: rajongó (hu), kedvelő (hu), barát (hu)
• Italian: amante (it) m or f
• Japanese: 愛好家 (ja) (あいこうか, aikōka)
• Malayalam: പ്രിയൻ (ml) m (priyaṉ)
• Middle English: lovere
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: elsker (no) m

• Persian: عاشق (fa) ('âšeq)
• Polish: amator (pl) m, amatorka f, miłośnik (pl) m, miłośniczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: amante (pt) m or f
• Romanian: om iubitor m, persoană iubitoare f, fan (ro) m
• Russian: люби́тель (ru) m (ljubítelʹ), люби́тельница (ru) f (ljubítelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ljubitelj (sh) m

  Cyrillic: љубитељ m

• Spanish: amante (es) m or f
• Swahili: mpenzi (sw)
• Telugu: ప్రేమికుడు (te) (prēmikuḍu) (male), ప్రేమికురాలు (prēmikurālu) (female)

Etymology 2

Noun

lover (plural lovers)

1. Obsolete form of louver.

Anagrams

• Vlorë

Dutch

Alternative forms

• loover (obsolete)

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈloː.vər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lo‧ver
• Rhymes: -oːvər

Noun

lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje n)

1. foliage

Synonyms

• gebladerte
• lommer

Anagrams

• vloer

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): /lɔ.ve/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

lover

1. to coil (a rope or cord), to fake a line
2. (reflexive) to coil up, wind up; to curl up
   • 2019, Alain Damasio, chapter 2, in Les furtifs [The Stealthies], La Volte, →ISBN:

     Happant du linge et courbant le matelas, j’y ai rapidement fait mon nid et je me suis lové en boule à l’intérieur.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (reflexive) to snuggle up to, to snuggle up against

Conjugation

Conjugation of lover (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	lover
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	lovant /lɔ.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		lové /lɔ.ve/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(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 historic2	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	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	love /lɔv/	loves /lɔv/	love /lɔv/	lovions /lɔ.vjɔ̃/	loviez /lɔ.vje/	lovent /lɔv/
	imperfect2	lovasse /lɔ.vas/	lovasses /lɔ.vas/	lovât /lɔ.va/	lovassions /lɔ.va.sjɔ̃/	lovassiez /lɔ.va.sje/	lovassent /lɔ.vas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	love /lɔv/	—	lovons /lɔ.vɔ̃/	lovez /lɔ.ve/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “lover”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• voler

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French lovier, lover, from Medieval Latin *lōdārium (attested as lōvārium), extension of lōdium, of unclear origin.

Alternative forms

• lovere, lowere, lovyre

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /luˈveːr/, /ˈluvər/, /loːˈveːr/, /ˈloːvər/

Noun

lover (plural lovers)

1. louver (type of turret)

Descendants

• English: louver, louvre, luffer
• Middle Scots: lewar

References

• “lǒver(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

lover

1. Alternative form of lovere (“friend, lover”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

lover m pl

1. indefinite masculine plural of lov

Verb

lover

1. present tense of love

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• lovar m pl

Noun

lover f pl

1. indefinite feminine plural of lov

Etymology 2

Verb

lover

1. present of lova