What does love mean to you in one word

“Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!”

Moulin Rouge – a movie all about love with their well-known quote, “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”. The movie perfectly portrays how two people who were not allowed to be together would do everything in their willpower to love each other till they take their last breath.

That’s probably the general view of loving someone unconditionally that you would do everything and anything to be together. However, with over 7 billion people on this planet, not everyone will have the same definition. Love is a very diverse term. Everyone needs it in some way or another, and therefore, everyone has their own definition to what ‘love’ means to them.

Haikal, 12, Romantic, Adventurous

In my opinion, love is not how much you say ‘I love you’ but how much you can prove it’s true. It’s about how patient and kind you are, it does not include boasting, it is not how arrogant and rude you are.

Love means accepting a person with all their failures, stupidities, and their imperfection. For example, love means there is no more busy world, it’s always about priorities. You will always find times you feel the most important about.

So in conclusion, I think love is a variety of different feelings; it’s about accepting someone for who they are and have feelings and do whatever it takes to have their forgiveness or even their heart.

Joseph, 21, Withdrawn Over-Thinker

I don’t believe in love at first sight. Attraction at first sight, yes. Affection at first sight, perhaps. But love?

Love, to me, rests on the same cline as companionship. And companionship is the foundation of love. Respect, understanding, and enthusiasm are the pillars on which this foundation is built – not initial attraction, not initial perception.

I suppose I am, to an extent, a victim of the ‘mere-exposure effect,’ in which a preference for someone or something comes with familiarity. I was close friends with my girlfriend for seven years before ‘asking her out,’ and I truly think that this friendship has served as an excellent point of reference over the last two years.

Therein lies the crux of my contention: love is not the gunshot signaling that the race has begun, but nor is it the feeling of crossing the finishing line. Love is the race – the journey – itself. Cliché? Yeah, sort of, but I do think it holds that the muddy concept of ‘love’ cannot be confined to the claustrophobic space of initial meeting, and this casts heavy doubts over the idea of love at first sight.

I respect but can’t identify with the desire for ‘one night stands’ or ‘wicked hooks,’ or whatever lingo is being used these days to denote seemingly frivolous dealings with a significant (or not so significant) other. It simply isn’t in my personality to consider such physical interaction to be so detached from emotional connection.

Of course, that’s not to say that love is static; it is an ever-changing construct, arbitrarily named and largely blurred at its edges. For some people, love at first sight might both exist and be fruitful, and I’m totally fine with that. In fact, let me make an amendment to my opening statement: I don’t believe in love at first sight for me.

Love exists outside the realm of human relationships, but I think nuanced meaning clouds its existence. I love coffee, I love the fresh air, and I love poetry, but I’m not in love with them.

I am in love with my girlfriend.

Kirsty, 23, Secretly Sentimental

An important element of love is to love yourself. Accept yourself and embrace the parts of yourself that you don’t necessarily like about yourself. This is an important lesson in how to love someone else. If you love yourself, you can be more generous with the love you give to others. You find yourself feeling more fulfilled and more loved than you could possibly imagine. You’ll find yourself smiling at the thought of whoever it is that you find you love. Love means seeing flaws and accepting them as positive traits. You’ll feel a sense of completeness that you never knew you were lacking in the first place, and no matter how long you’ve been apart whether it be hours or months you’ll feel like you’re coming home.

Luke, 21, Avocado Enthusiast

To possess a true love for something, some place, some ideology or someone and feel the reciprocation is often perceived as a final hurdle on a pathway to utopia, ‘a hypothetical place or state of things where everything is perfect.’

If I were to use something as simple as an “avocado” as a representation of any human, object or place capable of being truly loved; love can be defined to me as the feelings you are overcome with when you stumble across one of these wonderful green oval-shaped specimens, one that is of perfect ripeness, far superior to any avocado you’ve found on the shelves before. So flawless that as your knife pierces through the delicate skin effortlessly leaving you two immaculate halves not only does your heart and mind constantly discover new boundaries of excitement but a level of contentedness and satisfaction settles in.

With a little feta cheese to accompany, all spread over the finest sourdough toast, and experienced in your own personal paradise, each bite brings forth feelings of invincibility and superiority that not a thing in the world can overcome the sheer happiness. I love avocados.

Sarah, 14, Open-Minded and Exciting

What is love to me? Love is something unconditional and can’t really be explained in words. Of course, I’ve never experienced it yet, but it’s something I wish to feel in my lifetime.

The best way you can really say it is, it’s a feeling that you can’t shake, no matter how hard you try. The feeling when you love that special someone or something you can never live without. The feeling to need them and protect them.

Love is when you look at that person, and your heart accelerates, you get goosebumps. Every time you touch them you feel the electricity radiating off the both of you. You can never feel selfish with them and sacrifice anything or everything if it means you can be with them for the rest of your life. It’s when that person makes you happy no matter how you’re feeling. No matter the gender, ethnicity or person.

But love isn’t easy, it comes with consequences and sacrifices that if you are willing to make you know you’ve found the right someone/something.

I know very few people who are truly, deeply, and madly in love with each other, and let me tell you every time I see that it gives me the shred of hope that there actually might be someone out there for me.

So that’s what love is to me. How bout you?

Sharvin, 19, Dog Lover

Everyone at a pinnacle point in their life has experienced love regardless if they were loved or have been loved. It’s an inevitable feeling that captures the heart with full on passion, infatuation, and desire. It comes in all sorts of forms like with family, friends or an intimate love. In my experience, love “feels so good but hurts so bad”, I went through many amazing memories of my life with the women I love but at the end, it will either end up a fairytale or just like a wrecking ball being swung at you at immense pace.

My love generally lies in the animal kingdom. Such exquisite creatures roaming on our planet for millions of years and have been proven a predominant significance. Dogs are my favorite, especially pugs, golden retrievers, shih tzu, and corgi’s! I have a pet dog that, in all honesty, feels like another younger sibling. Their presence is a remedy for sadness or stress; they will be there through your ups and downs, which clearly defines the term, “dogs are a man’s best friend”. They may be a little annoying at times when it comes to barking or pooping all over the house but hey they are not as privileged as humans to have an intellect.

Marina, 20, Classic and Eclectic

To me, love is the most powerful thing on this planet. It can make you go crazy, feel every emotion a human ought to feel all mixed together, it can make you sick, and it can also make you feel more alive than anything ever can. Whether it’s loving yourself or loving someone else (or even loving an idea or a thing), it will consume you and make you feel infinite.

To me, I know that love is the greatest thing out there – that without it, we are nothing. Something that pushes you to achieve it, no matter what others say or who stops you. It’s the happiness it can bring you when you’re feeling down and once taken away, that’s when you feel like everything has gone to hell.

To be frank, it is dangerous to love, but it’s a risk you should be willing to take. Love so deeply it overwhelms you. Once you fall in love with something or someone, you’ll know it. Trust me on this. It may take time, but it’ll be worth it. You just need to find your star.

Featured photo credit: Susanne Nilsson via flickr.com

How do you define love? Several persons who are so curious to learn what is the best definition of love will find this post helpful.

The concept of love has existed for centuries and almost everyone seems to have a basic understanding of what love is, ranging from the traditional teachings from parents, guidiance and the clergies.

But today we shall take a look at the deep meaning of love by buttressing into underlying facts. The different aspects of love and life including what is love in a relationship, religion and so on.

Honestly, you are not the only one who has asked to know what is love or received the I LOVE YOU text messages or chat. Several other persons have gone through this too or even experiencing it right now.

But the case has been to find out what is the true definition of love and how to determine when someone shows you love or learn how to show love to other people you are dealing with or likely to come in contact with as life goes on.

Whether you believe in falling in love at first sight or trying to find out the difference between love and lust, this is the most updated guide you need for the complete understanding of what love is all about.

The meaning of love:

Everybody hear or talk about love but it is only a few that embraces it. Because we are different and with variations in thoughts, love has taken different shapes and meaning.

Trying to get the actual meaning of love or the best definition of love, became a complex task because of the reasons above.

Love is the combination of characters, emotions, trust, belief and understanding with a strong bond, tolerance and respect for the other person.

Love involves finding your own happiness in the other person(s) when you understand others and derive joy from what they do, it will be right to say that you love such type of people.

When someone prioritises your needs or wants above every other thing, that’s also called love. Love is also when a father or anyone else, work day in day out to put a smile on his family’s faces.

The definition of love by different authors

As earlier said, the actual definition of love is hard to get, since there are variations in views, people have their various ways of defining love.

Let’s take a look at the meaning of love on Urban dictionary according to different authors and other relevant sources.

Love is a constant source of pleasure and pain. But we can’t predict which it will be from one moment ot the next. It is a short word, easy to spell, difficult to define, and impossibble to live without.

Sayshainar – Urban Dictionary

Love is when all your concern is about their happiness, safety, and health. If they’re absent for a few minutes you miss and long for them to be beside you. You feel happy with their presence and their smile melts you.

Omgggitsnick – Urban Dictionary

Love is a word used by many , but understood by few.

Reback – Urban Dictionary

Making yourself vulnerable to someone, while fully knowing that they may betray you.

Sooz the great – Urban Dictionary

When their happiness is important to you, and you behave in a kind and caring manner towards them.

Collins Dictionary

All the above, are the real definition of love, in summary, we can deduce that the deep meaning of love is in connection to how great and happy we make others around us feel.

Probably with or without expecting something in return. This necessary do not have to involve intimacy.

Religions’ perception of love

Now let’s take a look at some of the religious approaches to what is love. There are several other religious meanings of love but we’re going to centre our focus on a majority of the popular religions in the world and what they have to say about love.

What is love in Christianity?

Christians believe that the purest definition of love is in the believe that “God is love” as clearly stated in John 3:16 on how God out of love sent his only son for the redemption of mankind.

In the same manner “The meaning of love in the Bible”, Christians are expected to love others just as God loves them.

Out of the several other Greek words for love, the New Testament states the following types of love:

• Agape love: This is considered as the way God loves humanity, it means unconditional love, it is selfless and altruistic.
• Philia: The “brotherly love” love for something that’s delightful.

Other types of love in the Bible that could be seen in the old testament are the; Eros, and Storge.

The meaning of love in Islam?

Let’s consider the Ahmadiyya’s view about love. Ahmadi Muslims believe that love is natural and a gift sent from God, just as the Qur’an is an apparatus for the teaching of love and it was sent by God.

What is love in the Jewish religion?

In Hebrew, this is considered as both the love for God and the love for family. It is most times referred to as steadfast love.

The meaning of love in Indian’s religions?

We know Indians for the following popular religion types:
Love in Buddhism takes the following shapes and meaning:

• Kama – selfish love
• Karuṇā – reducing the suffering of others, that’s being compassionate.
• Advera and mettā – charitable love, giving without selfish interest.

Definition of love in Hindu?

kāma is the third end in life according to many Hindu schools and this means PLEASURABLE love.

This is actually otherwise of prem. Prem means elevated love, Hinduism also preaches love without expecting something in return.

To learn more about what is love in Abrahamic religion, and polytheist religions, see Wikipedia for religious views on love.

Types of love and their meaning

Let’s take a look at these 8 types of Greek words for love. The four types of love in the bible is also derived from the following Greek words.

Types of love	Meaning
Eros	Sexual or passionate type of love.
Philia	Friendly/brotherly love
Storge	Instinctual love, love of a parent to its offspring
Agape	Universal love, love for strange, love for God or from God to humanity
Ludus	Playful love
Pragma	Love in favour of compatibilities, personal qualities, share interest or goals.
Philautia	Self-love – could be a healthy or unhealthy type of love
Mania	Obsessive love, showing obsessiveness or madness over a partner.

Love vs Lust

The popular saying that love is blind, rings true for lust too. Most times we find it easier to detect for our friends whether their feeling for someone is lust or love but when it comes to ourselves, we happen not to see things clearly. That’s when we begin to ask “does he lust or love me?“

Which is better, love or lust? Due to uncertainties and insecurities several persons sort to ask different questions to know if their significant other lust or loves them.

Although lust can grow into love, some refer to it as the first stage of love, but that’s not often the case.

Just as you can’t stop thinking about people you love, so does lust, but how then do you diff between love and lust? When you see yourself thinking a lot of daydreaming about someone’s physical features, then the relationship has lust feelings.

No matter what reasons that lead to lust feelings or mistaking love for lust, the truth is that love is emotional and stronger than lust. Love is not lust, love is selfless, lust is selfish, lust doesn’t last.

In light of the above, you will be able to know if someone loves or lusts you. Lust is not good in a relationship.

Any relationship built on lust fades quickly. If you become attracted to someone because of the shape of the nose, and if by tomorrow there’s an alteration, surgical alteration due to accident, and you’re beginning to dislike the person, it is obvious you never loved them it was lust in disguise.

FAQs

After our engagements with people indifferent forums, question and answer platform, and a billion Google searches, we’re able to come up with the following frequently asked questions about what is love?

What is love in one word?

Can you define “love” in one word? Love is difficult to define in a word. It is vast, most people have their own way of defining love in one word.

We have analysed 1000+ answers attempting to explain love in one word and here’s what we have got below:

12 Ways to define love in one word are:

• Reliability
• Love is love
• Priority
• Love is understanding
• Happiness
• Love is bond
• Family
• Love is bond
• Devotion
• Love is unconditional
• God
• Love is blind
• Affection

Despite several answers trying to prove the meaning of love in one word, some are with the opinion that to define love in one word, love is love for it is from it that other things you could think of such as; to adore, care, trust and happiness can be derived.

However, Some people totally agree that the one-word definition of love is UNDERSTANDING, that when you understand and respect people’s views about life you will love and know how to take care of them.

Is jealousy a sign of love?

Jealousy arises when there are insecurities, it is multi-dimensional emotion, housing anxiety and anger.

Jealousy should not be mistaken for love, it is a negative type of emotion often triggered by insecurity and desire, love does not bring out insecurity.

How to know if he truly loves you

Are you planning to start up a new relationship or already in one but not sure if your partner truly loves you?

It is normal to ask questions trying to find out the meaning of love in a relationship. Here’s a detailed guide that will help you find out if he truly loves you more than a friend so you won’t exceed your limits.

What is the difference between loving someone and falling in love?

People who ask whether love is a choice should at this point figure out that being in love is not a choice, loving someone is a choice.

You can decide to see the best qualities in people, appreciate them for who they’re and be a supportive partner to them.

But being in love is not a matter of choice, it can happen to anyone, to you and without consent. Loving someone is a rush, being in love is a constant or steady flow of emotions it is not temporal it is forever being in love.

What makes love last?

We have seen people fall in love and out of love since we were on the search to the true meaning of love we came across the question seeking solutions to make love last.

According to an American psychological researcher and clinician, John Gottman in his book “What makes love last?” he anchored the elements on TRUST and INTIMACY.

Funny meanings of love

While drafting this post, we did come across some funny comments about love on the Youtube video titled “what is love” by Thoughty2 which we will share in this section:

• L = losing
• O = our
• V = virginity
• E = easily

• Baby don’t hurt me
• Don’t hurt me
• No more – this was a repeating type of comment we saw in different love forums, curled from What is Love Haddaway lyrics and used in a funny way buy people who are scared about love for they see love as making someone vulnerable.

The first time my mother told my dad she loves him, he said thanks… 🙂

Conclusion

Everyone talks about love but can you define love? At this very point, we sincerely believe you now have a piece of solid background knowledge about the actual meaning of love and its dependencies.

Truly, love is not a word, it is a meaning, love is dreaming out loud, love is something that is not perfect, it just needs to be true.

What type of love do you practice or like, and what is love in your own words? Let’s hear from you in the comment section below.

A relationship comprises friendship, sexual attraction, intellectual compatibility, and, of course, love. Love is the glue that keeps a relationship strong. It is deeply biological. But what is love, and how do you know if you are truly in love? 

It isn’t easy to define love because everyone’s perception of real love can be dramatically different. People often get confused between lust, attraction, and companionship. Hence, there is no one best definition of love.     

However, love can be summarized as an intense feeling of euphoria and deep affection for someone or something. This love definition or love meaning might only encompass some of the emotions that comprise how you feel when you are in love.      

Is love an emotion? Yes. 

Can abstract emotions such as love be defined in specific terms? Maybe not. 

However, there are certain words and actions that fall in the realm of love, while others do not. 

Some gestures can be termed love. On the other hand, some other emotions and feelings can be confused for love, but people soon realize that they are not true love. Here is to understanding more about love and the feeling.

What is the real meaning of love?

If you want to define love in one sentence, love is one of the most profound emotions humans experience. It is a combination of attraction and closeness. The person we feel attracted to or close to is the person we are usually in love with.            

Such a person can be a friend, parent, sibling, or even our pet. Such love is based on a feeling of attraction or affection.

The full meaning of love can be seen in different ways because there are different types of love. The answer to the question, “What is love for you?” can differ for everyone, depending on the relationship in context. 

As per the Cambridge dictionary, love is defined as liking another adult very much and being romantically and sexually attracted to them or having strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family.

While this is a more literal definition, love can be defined in many other ways.

How to describe the romantic meaning of love? 

Feelings of love can be defined as an amalgamation of various other emotions. Love is caring, compassion, patience, not being jealous, not having expectations, giving yourself and other people a chance, and not rushing. 

What does love mean, then? You ask. Love has often been used as a noun, but love is a verb in practice. It is about what we do for others and how we make others feel loved and cared for.

The history of love                         

Like most things around the world, love has also transformed over the years and centuries. Love was not always the way we know it now. 

Research shows that back in the day, love was secondary or not even considered when it came to a union between two people. Marriages, which in some cultures and parts of the world are known as the ultimate goal of a romantic relationship, were mostly transactional. 

People marry based on whether or not the marriage would bring them any benefits in terms of wealth and power.

However, if we look at art forms such as poetry, love is an old emotion – something people have been experiencing for a long time. 

What does real love feel like?

Love is a holistic feeling. It involves many elements, words, and actions which define love. What love means to you depends on how it makes you feel and the experiences it brings into your life.  

Many people may wonder what is the meaning of love in a relationship. The answer lies in the elements of love.

1. Care

Care is one of the primary elements of love. 

If we love someone, we care about them, their feelings, and their well-being. We may go out of our way to ensure they are okay and even compromise and sacrifice our needs and wants to give them what they need.

Related Reading: Simple Steps to Take Care of Your Relationships

2. Admiration

Admiration is very crucial in love and relationships. 

Admiration can be for their physicality or even for their mind and personality. Liking someone for their external and internal self and respecting their thoughts is an essential element of love.

3. Desire

Desire is both sexual and physical and mental. 

Just wanting to spend more time with someone, being around them, and wanting them – are all parts of the desire you feel when you are in love with someone. 

12 telltale signs of love

Love is an emotion, but people do show signs of being in love. You can tell if someone is in love with you by the things they do for you, their words, and how they behave with you.

Here are some signs that can explain “What is love” in an informed manner:

1. Love is generous

In a truly loving relationship, we give to the other without an expectation of return. We need to keep an account of who did what for the other. Giving pleasure to our partner gives us pleasure, too.

2. We feel what our partner feels

The true meaning of love is to feel a sense of joy when we see our partner happy. When we see that they are sad or depressed, we feel their blue mood, too. With love comes empathy for the other person’s emotional state.

          

3. Love means compromise

The real meaning of love in a relationship is to willfully compromise your needs to accommodate your partner’s needs or desires.

But we don’t sacrifice ourselves in doing this, nor should the other person require us to sacrifice ourselves for their gain. That’s not what love is all about in a relationship; that’s control and abuse.

4. Respect and kindness

What is true love?

When we love, we act respectfully and kindly toward each other.

We do not intentionally hurt or denigrate our partners. When we talk about them in their absence, it is with such warmth that the listeners can hear the love in our words. We do not criticize our partners behind their backs.

Related Reading: Niceness Vs Kindness in Relationships-what Matters the Most?

5. We act with ethics and morals

Our love for the other person enables us to act morally and ethically with them and in our community. Their presence in our life makes us want to be better people so that they will continue to admire us.

6. We guard each other’s solitude

With love, we never feel lonely, even when alone. The very thought of the other person makes us feel as if we have a guardian angel with us at all times.

7. Their success is yours as well

What is true love in a relationship?

When our partner succeeds at something after a long effort, we beam with joy as if we were the winner, too. There is no feeling of jealousy or competition, just pure pleasure at seeing our beloved’s success.

8. They are always on our mind

Even when separated for work, travel, or other commitments, our thoughts drift towards them and what they might be doing “right now.”

9. Sexual intimacy deepens

With love, sex becomes sacred. Unlike the early days, our lovemaking is now deep and holy, a true joining of bodies and minds.

10. We feel safe

The presence of love in the relationship allows us to feel protected and safe, as if the other person is a safe harbor for us to come home to. With them, we feel a sense of security and stability.

Watch this video to learn more about creating a safe relationship:

11. We feel seen and heard

Our partner sees us for who we are and still loves us. We can show all our positive and negative sides and receive their love unconditionally.

They know who we are at our core. Love allows us to bare our souls and feel grace in return.

12. Love helps fight without fear

What is love all about? It is a sense of security.

If we are secure in our love relationship, we know we can argue and that it will not break us apart. We agree to disagree and don’t hold grudges for too long because we don’t like to hold bad feelings toward our partner.

8 different types of love 

There are eight different types of love, according to Greek mythology. These include –

1. Family love or Storgy

This refers to the type of love we share with our family – parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and others.

2. Marital love or Eros

This is the type of romantic love  we feel with a partner who we wish to marry or have already married. 

3. Love by the principle – Agape

This love is not based on emotions but on principles. It is referred to as the love for people we do not like, the love for the unlovable.

4. Brotherly love – Phileo/Philia

As the name suggests, brotherly love is love for our close ones, who we hold as dear as family. These people, however, are not our family by blood.

5. Obsessive Love – Mania

Obsessive love, also known as Mania, is an obsession with one person or a certain way of loving them. Such love hinders your growth and can interfere with your personal and professional life.

6. Enduring love – Pragma

Enduring love is the kind of deep, true love that people in long, meaningful relationships experience.

7. Playful love – Ludus

Playful love, also called young love, is what you feel when you think the whole world has conspired for the two of you to be together. This love, however, comes with an expiry date and might die down with time.

8. Self love – Philautia

This type of love has been talked about quite a bit, especially recently. It talks about appreciation and care for yourself before you set out to give it to someone else.

Related Reading: 30 Ways to Practice Self-Love and Be Good to Yourself

Impact of being in love

Love is a very powerful emotion. Therefore, it can have both positive and negative impacts on us. These effects of love can range from physical, emotional, and even psychological. True feelings of love can change us.

• The positive impact of love

Love is known to have a very positive impact on our well-being, body, and mind. 

The feelings of unconditional love, non-judgment, independence, and security that come with a healthy relationship can boost self-esteem and confidence. It also reduces stress, which is a common denominator for various mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression. 

Couple therapy shows that some of the positive impacts of love include the following –

• • Reduced risk of heart diseases
  • Less fatality risk due to heart attacks
  • Healthy habits
  • Increased chances of a long and healthy life
  • Lower stress levels
  • Reduced risk of mental health issues like depression.

• The negative impact of love

Unhealthy, unrequited love and bad relationships can negatively impact your body, mind, and well-being. 

Bad relationships that are toxic from the beginning or turn toxic with time can lead to insecurities that develop deeper than just the relationship and affect a person’s mental health and future relationships. 

The feelings of not being good enough, not doing things right, and being unable to meet expectations can make one feel less of themselves. People leaving without explanations, cheating, and lying can lead to abandonment issues that last longer than the relationship.

The negative impacts of love can be as follows.

• Increased risk of heart diseases
• Spiked risk of heart attacks
• High levels of stress
• Slower disease recovery
• Poor mental health

How to practice love

As mentioned above, love is an amalgamation of various factors and feelings. To practice love healthily and make the people in our lives feel loved, we have to be open to love. 

There is no sure-shot step-by-step guide on how to practice love, but these points may help.

• Be more compassionate, take care of the people you love
• Be vulnerable, let your guard down and open up to your partner/parent/sibling
• Be willing to accept your flaws
• Accept your mistakes and realize how they affect the other person
• Apologize
• Forgive the people you love when you can tell they are genuinely sorry
• Listen to your loved ones
• Prioritize your time with them
• Make sure you are there for the big days
• Reciprocate their words, gestures, and feelings
• Show affection
• Appreciate them

Some commonly asked questions

Love is an emotion based on which many poems, movies and songs are made. However, there are still many questions that it raises.

• What is the deepest form of love?

The deepest form of love is the one that encompasses within it feelings of empathy and respect. It is not just focused on selfish pursuits but changes the focus to look out for the well-being of the person you love. 

The deep meaning of love encompasses other emotions that show how much you value and care for the one you love. 

• Can you love two people at the same time?

Yes, it is possible for people to love multiple people at the same time. However, the elements of love for each person might be different. 

Studies have shown that people can love two people at the same time. One in six people interviewed in the study admitted to feeling attracted to and attached to more than one person simultaneously. 

The bottom line

If you have often asked yourself, “What is love in a relationship?” this article may have given you some insights. 

The bottom line is that certain feelings such as care, patience, respect, and others are what is love all about in a relationship. 

Factors such as wanting and needing love, how we love, and the importance of love are essential to understand when answering the question, “What is love?”

Love is a complex emotion and can differ from person to person. Even if you feel you need clarification about what is love and what it’s like to be in love, you will most likely figure it out with time. 

The Definition of Love

Love is arguably the most powerful emotion, driving mothers to superhuman feats of strength to save their children, and teenagers to defy all logic and reason in order to be together. But it is also one of the most difficult emotions to explain. What it means to love someone has been debated by philosophers, poets, and scientists throughout the ages. At its essence, however, love can be broken down into three main components.

1. Love Is a Feeling

Romantic love begins with attraction, that indescribable feeling in the pit of your stomach that makes you want to be with someone. If the attraction is solely physical in nature, however, it is lust rather than love. In true love, you genuinely enjoy the other person’s company. You miss him when he is not around. You think about her frequently, and look forward to your next meeting. You might be wildly different in many ways, but you have shared core values and beliefs about the world that make you compatible.

Another important component of the feeling associated with love is freedom. You take pride in each other’s accomplishments and are not threatened by each other’s success. Neither of you is jealous or clingy. You have faith in your love and its power to see you through the difficult times, and you feel confident and empowered rather than weak and afraid.

2. Love Is an Action

No matter how compatible you are, you and your loved one will have times of strife. Financial difficulties, job concerns, parenting issues, and many other problems will test your love again and again. Loving someone means making the tough choice to act in a loving manner, even when you are tired and overwhelmed. Making each other’s needs a priority and working together to accomplish shared goals are hallmarks of true love, especially when the going gets tough.

Love is made up of a constant stream of choices and actions. No matter how long you are together, you must always make the decision to actively show your love. A worthwhile partner will do the same for you. Never stop demonstrating your love through concrete actions that support your partner.

3. Love Is an Attachment

Attachment develops over time. Any new relationship is a heady mix of attraction and excitement about new possibilities, blended with more than a little fear and trepidation. You must navigate new waters, negotiate the terms and conditions of the relationship, and figure out exactly how to proceed together. Only once you have moved through the early stages and become truly comfortable with each other can the attachment phase begin. Once started, however, this is the phase that can last a lifetime.

When you are attached, you are comfortable with each other. You understand each other’s routines and habits, and have found a way to live with the things that make you uncomfortable. You know that you are both on the same page as far as the direction and timing of the relationship, and you truly trust each other to be there long-term.

Crisis Points

Relationships generally run into trouble at two main points. The first crisis window is at the end of the honeymoon stage, before attachment truly sets in. After the endorphins wear off and couples get used to each other, they begin to see each other as whole people complete with flaws. They miss the rush that they got from each other in the early days, and begin to wonder if they could do better.

The second major crisis window comes much further into the relationship, long after the attachment phase has begun. This crisis point is sometimes triggered by a major life change, such as having children or taking on responsibility for one or both partners’ aging parents, but can be the result of individual growth and development. At this point, partners sometimes feel that they have grown apart. They wonder whether they still have anything in common, and they wonder whether they can still support each other’s changing hopes and dreams.

Saving Relationships

If you are questioning your relationship, it is important to note that not all relationships were meant to last. Some can be viewed as growth experiences for both partners, and are best brought to their natural conclusion. Even if it is true love, it might not always conquer all.

To give your love the best chance for success, however, always remember to make loving choices. Every relationship hits bumps along the way, and actively working together is the best way to get through them. Trust yourself and your partner, and seek outside help if needed.

Looking for verifiable information on the science of attraction and relationships? We’re a neuroscientist and a biological anthropologist eager to help you put the Anatomy of Love to work in your own life.

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Love is a set of emotions and behaviors characterized by intimacy, passion, and commitment. It involves care, closeness, protectiveness, attraction, affection, and trust. Love can vary in intensity and can change over time. It is associated with a range of positive emotions, including happiness, excitement, life satisfaction, and euphoria, but it can also result in negative emotions such as jealousy and stress.

When it comes to love, some people would say it is one of the most important human emotions. Yet despite being one of the most studied behaviors, it is still the least understood. For example, researchers debate whether love is a biological or cultural phenomenon.

Love is most likely influenced by both biology and culture. Although hormones and biology are important, the way we express and experience love is also influenced by our personal conceptions of love.

How Do You Know?

What are some of the signs of love? Researchers have made distinctions between feelings of liking and loving another person.

Zick Rubin’s Scales of Liking and Loving

According to psychologist Zick Rubin, romantic love is made up of three elements:

• Attachment: Needing to be with another person and desiring physical contact and approval
• Caring: Valuing the other person’s happiness and needs as much as your own
• Intimacy: Sharing private thoughts, feelings, and desires with the other person

Based on this view of romantic love, Rubin developed two questionnaires to measure these variables, known as Rubin’s Scales of Liking and Loving. Whereas people tend to view people they like as pleasant, love is marked by being devoted, possessive, and confiding in one another. 

Types of Love

Not all forms of love are the same, and psychologists have identified a number of different types of love that people may experience. These types of love include:

• Friendship: This type of love involves liking someone and sharing a certain degree of intimacy.
• Infatuation: This is a form of love that often involves intense feelings of attraction without a sense of commitment; it often takes place early in a relationship and may deepen into a more lasting love.
• Passionate love: This type of love is marked by intense feelings of longing and attraction; it often involves an idealization of the other person and a need to maintain constant physical closeness.
• Compassionate/companionate love: This form of love is marked by trust, affection, intimacy, and commitment.
• Unrequited love: This form of love happens when one person loves another who does not return those feelings.

Robert Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

Specifically, psychologist Robert Sternberg developed his well-regarded triangular theory of love in the early 1980s. Much research has built upon his work and demonstrated its universality across cultures.

Sternberg broke love into three components—intimacy, passion, and commitment—that interact to produce seven types of love.

Is Love Biological or Cultural?

Some researchers suggest that love is a basic human emotion just like happiness or anger, while others believe that it is a cultural phenomenon that arises partly due to social pressures and expectations. 

Research has found that romantic love exists in all cultures, which suggests that love has a strong biological component. It is a part of human nature to seek out and find love. However, culture can significantly affect how individuals think about, experience, and display romantic love.

How to Practice Love

There is no single way to practice love. Every relationship is unique, and each person brings their own history and needs. Some things that you can do to show love to the people you care about include:

• Be willing to be vulnerable.
• Be willing to forgive.
• Do your best, and be willing to apologize when you make mistakes.
• Let them know that you care.
• Listen to what they have to say.
• Prioritize spending time with the other person.
• Reciprocate loving gestures and acts of kindness.
• Recognize and acknowledge their good qualities.
• Share things about yourself.
• Show affection.
• Make it unconditional.

Impact of Love

Love, attachment, and affection have an important impact on well-being and quality of life. Loving relationships have been linked to:

• Lower risk of heart disease
• Decreased risk of dying after a heart attack
• Better health habits
• Increased longevity
• Lower stress levels
• Less depression
• Lower risk of diabetes

Tips for Cultivating Love

Lasting relationships are marked by deep levels of trust, commitment, and intimacy. Some things that you can do to help cultivate loving relationships include:

• Try loving-kindness meditation. Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) is a technique often used to promote self-acceptance and reduce stress, but it has also been shown to promote a variety of positive emotions and improve interpersonal relationships. LKM involves meditating while thinking about a person you love or care about, concentrating on warm feelings and your desire for their well-being and happiness.
• Communicate. Everyone’s needs are different. The best way to ensure that your needs and your loved one’s needs are met is to talk about them. Helping another person feel loved involves communicating that love to them through words and deeds. Some ways to do this include showing that you care, making them feel special, telling them they are loved, and doing things for them.
• Tackle conflict in a healthy way. Never arguing is not necessarily a sign of a healthy relationship—more often than not, it means that people are avoiding an issue rather than discussing it. Rather than avoid conflict, focus on hashing out issues in ways that are healthy in order to move a relationship forward in a positive way. 

Potential Pitfalls

As Shakespeare said, the course of love never did run smooth. No relationship is perfect, so there will always be problems, conflicts, misunderstandings, and disappointments that can lead to distress or heartbreak.

So while love is associated with a host of positive emotions, it can also be accompanied by a number of negative feelings as well. Some of the potential pitfalls of experiencing love include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Increased stress
• Jealousy
• Obsessiveness
• Possessiveness
• Sadness

While people are bound to experience some negative emotions associated with love, it can become problematic if those negative feelings outweigh the positive or if they start to interfere with either person’s ability to function normally. Relationship counseling can be helpful in situations where couples need help coping with miscommunication, stress, or emotional issues.

History of Love

Only fairly recently has love become the subject of science. In the past, the study of love was left to «the creative writer to depict for us the necessary conditions for loving,» according to Sigmund Freud. «In consequence, it becomes inevitable that science should concern herself with the same materials whose treatment by artists has given enjoyment to mankind for thousands of years,» he added.

Research on love has grown tremendously since Freud’s remarks. But early explorations into the nature and reasons for love drew considerable criticism. During the 1970s, U.S. Senator William Proxmire railed against researchers who were studying love and derided the work as a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Despite early resistance, research has revealed the importance of love in both child development and adult health.

 Written by Writer’s Corps member Aditi Nair

For some people, love can be used to describe almost anything. OMG, I love this iced latte! This sweater is amazing, I love it. But, what about romantic relationships? For couples in long-term relationships, love means loyalty and commitment but for college students in the center of their first real relationship, love may feel messy and complicated.

It doesn’t matter where you fall on the spectrum, whether your love life is blissful or nonexistent, it’s clear that everyone has an opinion on love and what it means in a healthy relationship.

In the hopes of coming to a more collective understanding of love, we asked 10 people in different stages of their relationship to explain what love means to them. Here’s what they had to say (their answers may surprise you).

For People That Are Not in a Relationship, Love is: 

Love is Security

“For me, love is the most secure feeling. Love is having a companion, best friend, lover, partner, sounding board, cheerleader, advisor, and cuddle buddy through every avenue in the journey of life.”

– Ash D. 

Love is Indescribable

“Love is a sentiment not able to be characterized by words.”

– Kurt S. 

Love is About Give-and-Take

“Completely opening up and sharing your feelings and life with them daily, that’s what constitutes a healthy relationship. But, it must be mutual. If a particular area is lacking on either side of the relationship, it makes it unideal and unhealthy.”

– Dylan P.

Love is Respect

“To me, a healthy relationship is built on respect for one another. Each person understands the commitment they are making to the other person.”

– Skylar M.

Love is Being In-Sync

“A healthy relationship could describe a plethora of different types of relationships, but the most important aspect of being in a relationship is being in-sync. Whether you both talk through every hour of your waking day, or whether you agree that you’re both busy and you’ll just talk on the phone at the end of every day, as long as you both are in agreement, that is what’s important.”

– Zane P.

Love is Commitment

“The key to success in a healthy relationship with someone is actually the terrifying but necessary effort of commitment. Being there for someone is what a real relationship needs. When we neglect to put in the effort is when things don’t work out with someone that could have been perfect for us. If you put in that extra effort for someone that can reciprocate it, love can be the greatest feeling one can ever feel.”

– Adam B.

For Couples That Have Been Together For One Year or More, Love is:

Love is Vulnerability

“Because love is scary, it’s basically giving someone a map of all your flaws and imperfections and putting faith in them to not abuse that power. And that can be so beautiful; it makes you do the hardest thing a human could ever do, be vulnerable.”

– Alex G.

Love is “Growing Together”

“Things won’t always be great. Your partner may do things that will make you angry, but if you are willing to not look at it as obstacles, but rather as opportunities for growth, then you are truly in love.”

– Jared B.

Love is Knowing Your S.O.’s Love Language

“Loving better comes from knowing what makes the other person happy. For him its back scratches and hugs. For me, it’s a verbal “I appreciate you” or “You look pretty.” No matter what it is, we’ve learned to love each other better because we know what makes each other happy, and we make the effort to find new ways to make each other happy.”

– Vanessa S.

Love is Healthy Communication

“When I say communicate, I don’t mean text. I mean calling and Facetiming. From experience, text creates so many opportunities for misunderstanding, and ultimately, unnecessary conflicts and trust issues. So, if I have anything to say about healthy relationships, it is to trust and communicate.”

– Vanessa S.

Love is Equality

“A healthy relationship, in my eyes, is when two people are equal in a relationship. We equally love, we equally respect, and we equally care.”

– Amber H.

For Couples in Long-Term Relationships, Love is:

Love is Accepting their Flaws

We’re human beings, we’re never going to be the same, but being patient and accepting each other’s flaws is something that never stops us from growing with one another.”

– Sasha M.

Love is Patience

We aren’t always going to agree. Testing each other’s patience and still coming home to love, kindness, and respect is a feeling I never want to disappear.”

– Preston N.

Check out more tips and advice about healthy relationships.