lover

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See also løver

Contents

English [edit]

Alternative forms [edit]

  • lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)

Etymology [edit]

From Middle English lover, lovyere, derivative of loven, lovien (to love), equivalent to love +‎ -er.

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

lover (plural lovers)

  1. A person who deeply and strongly loves and cares for another person in a romantic way, a sweetheart, love, soul-mate, boyfriend, or girlfriend.
  2. A sexual partner.
  3. A person who truly and deeply loves something; connoisseur.

Synonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]


Dutch [edit]

Etymology [edit]

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 [edit]

lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje)

  1. foliage

Synonyms [edit]

Anagrams [edit]


French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

The 1986 Dictionnaire de l'Académie française describes this word as a 17th century borrowing from a Low German (Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German) verb "lofen, lufen", although this is historically implausible.

Jan de Vries mentions this word in his Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek as a possible cognate of Dutch leuver; he derives the French word from an East Frisian verb "lofen, lufen".

Pronunciation [edit]

Verb [edit]

lover

  1. to coil (a rope or cord)
  2. (reflexive, of a snake) to coil up, wind up; to curl up

Conjugation [edit]

Anagrams [edit]


Middle English [edit]

Noun [edit]

lover (plural lovers)

  1. lover