lover

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See also: løver and Lover

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Alternative forms[edit]

  • lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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[edit]
  • 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[edit]
Compound words and expressions
Descendants[edit]
  • → German: Lover
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

lover (plural lovers)

  1. Obsolete form of louver.

Anagrams[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Alternative forms[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.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje n)

  1. foliage

Synonyms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

lover (plural lovers)

  1. louver (type of turret)
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

lover

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

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Noun[edit]

lover m pl

  1. indefinite masculine plural of lov

Verb[edit]

lover

  1. present tense of love

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

lover f pl

  1. indefinite feminine plural of lov

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

lover

  1. present of lova
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