What is love definition in one word

Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure.^[1][2] An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse, which differs from the love for food. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of a strong attraction and emotional attachment.^[3][4][5]

Love is considered to be both positive and negative, with its virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection, as «the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another» and its vice representing human moral flaw, akin to vanity, selfishness, amour-propre, and egotism, as potentially leading people into a type of mania, obsessiveness or codependency.^[6][7] It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one’s self, or animals.^[8] In its various forms, love acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.^[9] Love has been postulated to be a function that keeps human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.^[10]

Ancient Greek philosophers identified six forms of love: essentially, familial love (in Greek, Storge), friendly love or platonic love (Philia), romantic love (Eros), self-love (Philautia), guest love (Xenia), and divine or unconditional love (Agape). Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of love: unrequited love, empty love, companionate love, consummate love, infatuated love, self-love, and courtly love. Numerous cultures have also distinguished Ren, Yuanfen, Mamihlapinatapai, Cafuné, Kama, Bhakti, Mettā, Ishq, Chesed, Amore, Charity, Saudade (and other variants or symbioses of these states), as culturally unique words, definitions, or expressions of love in regards to a specified «moments» currently lacking in the English language.^[11][12][13]

Scientific research on emotion has increased significantly over the past two decades. The color wheel theory of love defines three primary, three secondary and nine tertiary love styles, describing them in terms of the traditional color wheel. The triangular theory of love suggests «intimacy, passion and commitment» are core components of love. Love has additional religious or spiritual meaning. This diversity of uses and meanings combined with the complexity of the feelings involved makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states.

Definitions

The word «love» can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Many other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that in English are denoted as «love»; one example is the plurality of Greek concepts for «love» (agape, eros, philia, storge) .^[14] Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus doubly impede the establishment of a universal definition.^[15]

Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn’t love (antonyms of «love»). Love as a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like) is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy). As a less-sexual and more-emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust. As an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships or platonic love. (Further possible ambiguities come with usages «girlfriend», «boyfriend», «just good friends»).

Abstractly discussed, love usually refers to an experience one person feels for another. Love often involves caring for, or identifying with, a person or thing (cf. vulnerability and care theory of love), including oneself (cf. narcissism). In addition to cross-cultural differences in understanding love, ideas about love have also changed greatly over time. Some historians date modern conceptions of romantic love to courtly Europe during or after the Middle Ages, although the prior existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry.^[16]

The complex and abstract nature of love often reduces discourse of love to a thought-terminating cliché. Several common proverbs regard love, from Virgil’s «Love conquers all» to The Beatles’ «All You Need Is Love». St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle, defines love as «to will the good of another.»^[17] Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of «absolute value,» as opposed to relative value.^{[citation needed]} Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz said that love is «to be delighted by the happiness of another.»^[18] Meher Baba stated that in love there is a «feeling of unity» and an «active appreciation of the intrinsic worth of the object of love.»^[19] Biologist Jeremy Griffith defines love as «unconditional selflessness».^[20]

Impersonal

People can be said to love an object, principle, or goal to which they are deeply committed and greatly value. For example, compassionate outreach and volunteer workers’ «love» of their cause may sometimes be born not of interpersonal love but impersonal love, altruism, and strong spiritual or political convictions.^[21] People can also «love» material objects, animals, or activities if they invest themselves in bonding or otherwise identifying with those things. If sexual passion is also involved, then this feeling is called paraphilia.^[22]

Interpersonal

Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a much more potent sentiment than a simple liking for a person. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love that are not reciprocated. Interpersonal love is most closely associated with Interpersonal relationships.^[21] Such love might exist between family members, friends, and couples. There are also a number of psychological disorders related to love, such as erotomania.
Throughout history, philosophy and religion have done the most speculation on the phenomenon of love. In the 20th century, the science of psychology has written a great deal on the subject. In recent years, the sciences of psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have added to the understanding of the concept of love.

Biological basis

Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst.^[23] Helen Fisher, an anthropologist and human behavior researcher, divides the experience of love into three partly overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust is the feeling of sexual desire; romantic attraction determines what partners mates find attractive and pursue, conserving time and energy by choosing; and attachment involves sharing a home, parental duties, mutual defense, and in humans involves feelings of safety and security.^[24] Three distinct neural circuitries, including neurotransmitters, and three behavioral patterns, are associated with these three romantic styles.^[24]

Lust is the initial passionate sexual desire that promotes mating, and involves the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen. These effects rarely last more than a few weeks or months. Attraction is the more individualized and romantic desire for a specific candidate for mating, which develops out of lust as commitment to an individual mate forms. Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including the neurotransmitter hormones, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, the same compounds released by amphetamine, stimulating the brain’s pleasure center and leading to side effects such as increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. Research has indicated that this stage generally lasts from one and a half to three years.^[25]

Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, a third stage is needed to account for long-term relationships. Attachment is the bonding that promotes relationships lasting for many years and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or mutual friendship based on things like shared interests. It has been linked to higher levels of the chemicals oxytocin and vasopressin to a greater degree than short-term relationships have.^[25] Enzo Emanuele and coworkers reported the protein molecule known as the nerve growth factor (NGF) has high levels when people first fall in love, but these return to previous levels after one year.^[26]

Psychological basis

Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg formulated a triangular theory of love and argued that love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion. Intimacy is a form in which two people share confidences and various details of their personal lives, and is usually shown in friendships and romantic love affairs. Commitment, on the other hand, is the expectation that the relationship is permanent. The last form of love is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in infatuation as well as romantic love. All forms of love are viewed as varying combinations of these three components. Non-love does not include any of these components. Liking only includes intimacy. Infatuated love only includes passion. Empty love only includes commitment. Romantic love includes both intimacy and passion. Companionate love includes intimacy and commitment. Fatuous love includes passion and commitment. Lastly, consummate love includes all three components.^[27] American psychologist Zick Rubin sought to define love by psychometrics in the 1970s. His work states that three factors constitute love: attachment, caring, and intimacy.^[28][29]

Following developments in electrical theories such as Coulomb’s law, which showed that positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human life were developed, such as «opposites attract». Over the last century, research on the nature of human mating has generally found this not to be true when it comes to character and personality—people tend to like people similar to themselves. However, in a few unusual and specific domains, such as immune systems, it seems that humans prefer others who are unlike themselves (e.g., with an orthogonal immune system), since this will lead to a baby that has the best of both worlds.^[30] In recent years, various human bonding theories have been developed, described in terms of attachments, ties, bonds, and affinities.
Some Western authorities disaggregate into two main components, the altruistic and the narcissistic. This view is represented in the works of Scott Peck, whose work in the field of applied psychology explored the definitions of love and evil. Peck maintains that love is a combination of the «concern for the spiritual growth of another,» and simple narcissism.^[31] In combination, love is an activity, not simply a feeling.

Psychologist Erich Fromm maintained in his book The Art of Loving that love is not merely a feeling but is also actions, and that in fact, the «feeling» of love is superficial in comparison to one’s commitment to love via a series of loving actions over time.^[21] In this sense, Fromm held that love is ultimately not a feeling at all, but rather is a commitment to, and adherence to, loving actions towards another, oneself, or many others, over a sustained duration.^[21] Fromm also described love as a conscious choice that in its early stages might originate as an involuntary feeling, but which then later no longer depends on those feelings, but rather depends only on conscious commitment.^[21]

Evolutionary basis

Evolutionary psychology has attempted to provide various reasons for love as a survival tool. Humans are dependent on parental help for a large portion of their lifespans compared to other mammals. Love has therefore been seen as a mechanism to promote parental support of children for this extended time period. Furthermore, researchers as early as Charles Darwin himself identified unique features of human love compared to other mammals and credit love as a major factor for creating social support systems that enabled the development and expansion of the human species.^{[citation needed]} Another factor may be that sexually transmitted diseases can cause, among other effects, permanently reduced fertility, injury to the fetus, and increase complications during childbirth. This would favor monogamous relationships over polygamy.^[32]

Adaptive benefit

Interpersonal love between a male and a female is considered to provide an evolutionary adaptive benefit since it facilitates mating and sexual reproduction.^[33] However, some organisms can reproduce asexually without mating. Thus understanding the adaptive benefit of interpersonal love depends on understanding the adaptive benefit of sexual reproduction as opposed to asexual reproduction. Michod^[33] has reviewed evidence that love, and consequently sexual reproduction, provides two major adaptive advantages. First, love leading to sexual reproduction facilitates repair of damages in the DNA that is passed from parent to progeny (during meiosis, a key stage of the sexual process). Second, a gene in either parent may contain a harmful mutation, but in the progeny produced by sex reproduction, expression of a harmful mutation introduced by one parent is likely to be masked by expression of the unaffected homologous gene from the other parent.^[33]

Comparison of scientific models

Biological models of love tend to see it as a mammalian drive, similar to hunger or thirst.^[23] Psychology sees love as more of a social and cultural phenomenon. Certainly, love is influenced by hormones (such as oxytocin), neurotrophins (such as NGF), and pheromones, and how people think and behave in love is influenced by their conceptions of love. The conventional view in biology is that there are two major drives in love: sexual attraction and attachment. Attachment between adults is presumed to work on the same principles that lead an infant to become attached to its mother. The traditional psychological view sees love as being a combination of companionate love and passionate love. Passionate love is intense longing, and is often accompanied by physiological arousal (shortness of breath, rapid heart rate); companionate love is affection and a feeling of intimacy not accompanied by physiological arousal.

Cultural views

Ancient Greek

Greek distinguishes several different senses in which the word «love» is used. Ancient Greeks identified four forms of love: kinship or familiarity (in Greek, storge), friendship and/or platonic desire (philia), sexual and/or romantic desire (eros), and self-emptying or divine love (agape).^[34][35] Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of romantic love.^[36] However, with Greek (as with many other languages), it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words totally. At the same time, the Ancient Greek text of the Bible has examples of the verb agapo having the same meaning as phileo.

Agape (ἀγάπη agápē) means love in modern-day Greek. The term s’agapo means I love you in Greek. The word agapo is the verb I love. It generally refers to a «pure,» ideal type of love, rather than the physical attraction suggested by eros. However, there are some examples of agape used to mean the same as eros. It has also been translated as «love of the soul.»^[37]

Eros (ἔρως érōs) (from the Greek deity Eros) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Greek word erota means in love. Plato refined his own definition. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. Eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth by eros. Some translations list it as «love of the body».^[37]

Philia (φιλία philía), a dispassionate virtuous love, was a concept addressed and developed by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics Book VIII.^[38] It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality, and familiarity. Philia is motivated by practical reasons; one or both of the parties benefit from the relationship. It can also mean «love of the mind.»

Storge (στοργή storgē) is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring.

Xenia (ξενία xenía), hospitality, was an extremely important practice in ancient Greece. It was an almost ritualized friendship formed between a host and his guest, who could previously have been strangers. The host fed and provided quarters for the guest, who was expected to repay only with gratitude. The importance of this can be seen throughout Greek mythology—in particular, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

Ancient Roman (Latin)

The Latin language has several different verbs corresponding to the English word «love.» amō is the basic verb meaning I love, with the infinitive amare («to love») as it still is in Italian today. The Romans used it both in an affectionate sense as well as in a romantic or sexual sense. From this verb come amans—a lover, amator, «professional lover,» often with the accessory notion of lechery—and amica, «girlfriend» in the English sense, often being applied euphemistically to a prostitute. The corresponding noun is amor (the significance of this term for the Romans is well illustrated in the fact, that the name of the city, Rome—in Latin: Roma—can be viewed as an anagram for amor, which was used as the secret name of the City in wide circles in ancient times),^[39] which is also used in the plural form to indicate love affairs or sexual adventures. This same root also produces amicus—»friend»—and amicitia, «friendship» (often based to mutual advantage, and corresponding sometimes more closely to «indebtedness» or «influence»). Cicero wrote a treatise called On Friendship (de Amicitia), which discusses the notion at some length. Ovid wrote a guide to dating called Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love), which addresses, in depth, everything from extramarital affairs to overprotective parents.

Latin sometimes uses amāre where English would simply say to like. This notion, however, is much more generally expressed in Latin by the terms placere or delectāre, which are used more colloquially, the latter used frequently in the love poetry of Catullus. Diligere often has the notion «to be affectionate for,» «to esteem,» and rarely if ever is used for romantic love. This word would be appropriate to describe the friendship of two men. The corresponding noun diligentia, however, has the meaning of «diligence» or «carefulness,» and has little semantic overlap with the verb. Observare is a synonym for diligere; despite the cognate with English, this verb and its corresponding noun, observantia, often denote «esteem» or «affection.» Caritas is used in Latin translations of the Christian Bible to mean «charitable love»; this meaning, however, is not found in Classical pagan Roman literature. As it arises from a conflation with a Greek word, there is no corresponding verb.

Chinese and other Sinic

Two philosophical underpinnings of love exist in the Chinese tradition, one from Confucianism which emphasized actions and duty while the other came from Mohism which championed a universal love. A core concept to Confucianism is 仁 (Ren, «benevolent love»), which focuses on duty, action, and attitude in a relationship rather than love itself. In Confucianism, one displays benevolent love by performing actions such as filial piety from children, kindness from parents, loyalty to the king and so forth.

The concept of 愛 (Mandarin: ài) was developed by the Chinese philosopher Mozi in the 4th century BC in reaction to Confucianism’s benevolent love. Mozi tried to replace what he considered to be the long-entrenched Chinese over-attachment to family and clan structures with the concept of «universal love» (兼愛, jiān’ài). In this, he argued directly against Confucians who believed that it was natural and correct for people to care about different people in different degrees. Mozi, by contrast, believed people in principle should care for all people equally. Mohism stressed that rather than adopting different attitudes towards different people, love should be unconditional and offered to everyone without regard to reciprocation; not just to friends, family and other Confucian relations. Later in Chinese Buddhism, the term Ai (愛) was adopted to refer to a passionate, caring love and was considered a fundamental desire. In Buddhism, Ai was seen as capable of being either selfish or selfless, the latter being a key element towards enlightenment.

In Mandarin Chinese, 愛 (ài) is often used as the equivalent of the Western concept of love. 愛 (ài) is used as both a verb (e.g. 我愛你, Wǒ ài nǐ, or «I love you») and a noun (such as 愛情 àiqíng, or «romantic love»). However, due to the influence of Confucian 仁 (rén), the phrase 我愛你 (Wǒ ài nǐ, I love you) carries with it a very specific sense of responsibility, commitment and loyalty. Instead of frequently saying «I love you» as in some Western societies, the Chinese are more likely to express feelings of affection in a more casual way. Consequently, «I like you» (我喜欢你, Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ) is a more common way of expressing affection in Mandarin; it is more playful and less serious.^[40] This is also true in Japanese (suki da, 好きだ).

Japanese

The Japanese language uses three words to convey the English equivalent of «love». Because «love» covers a wide range of emotions and behavioral phenomena, there are nuances distinguishing the three terms.^[41][42] The term ai (愛), which is often associated with maternal love^[41] or selfless love,^[42] originally referred to beauty and was often used in a religious context. Following the Meiji Restoration 1868, the term became associated with «love» in order to translate Western literature. Prior to Western influence, the term koi (恋 or 孤悲) generally represented romantic love, and was often the subject of the popular Man’yōshū Japanese poetry collection.^[41] Koi describes a longing for a member of the opposite sex and is typically interpreted as selfish and wanting.^[42] The term’s origins come from the concept of lonely solitude as a result of separation from a loved one. Though modern usage of koi focuses on sexual love and infatuation, the Manyō used the term to cover a wider range of situations, including tenderness, benevolence, and material desire.^[41] The third term, ren’ai (恋愛), is a more modern construction that combines the kanji characters for both ai and koi, though its usage more closely resembles that of koi in the form of romantic love.^[41][42] Amae (甘え), referring to the desire to be loved and cared for by an authority figure, is another important aspect of Japan’s cultural perspective on love, and has been analysed in detail in Takeo Doi’s The Anatomy of Dependence^[43]

Indian

In contemporary literature, the Sanskrit words for love is «sneha». Other terms such as Priya refers to innocent love, Prema refers to spiritual love, and Kama refers usually to sexual desire.^[44][45] However, the term also refers to any sensory enjoyment, emotional attraction and aesthetic pleasure such as from arts, dance, music, painting, sculpture and nature.^[46][47]

The concept of kama is found in some of the earliest known verses in Vedas. For example, Book 10 of Rig Veda describes the creation of the universe from nothing by the great heat. There in hymn 129, it states:

कामस्तदग्रे समवर्तताधि मनसो रेतः परथमं यदासीत |
सतो बन्धुमसति निरविन्दन हर्दि परतीष्याकवयो मनीषा ||^[48]

Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire the primal seed and germ of Spirit,
Sages who searched with their heart’s thought discovered the existent’s kinship in the non-existent.

Persian

Rumi, Hafiz, and Sa’di are icons of the passion and love that the Persian culture and language present.^{[citation needed]} The Persian word for love is Ishq, which is derived from Arabic language; however, it is considered by most to be too stalwart a term for interpersonal love and is more commonly substituted for «doost dashtan» («liking»).^{[citation needed]} In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love, starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventually reaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life.^{[citation needed]}

Religious views

Abrahamic

Judaism

In Hebrew, אהבה (ahava) is the most commonly used term for both interpersonal love and love between God and God’s creations. Chesed, often translated as loving-kindness, is used to describe many forms of love between human beings.

The commandment to love other people is given in the Torah, which states, «Love your neighbor like yourself» (Leviticus 19:18). The Torah’s commandment to love God «with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might» (Deuteronomy 6:5) is taken by the Mishnah (a central text of the Jewish oral law) to refer to good deeds, willingness to sacrifice one’s life rather than commit certain serious transgressions, willingness to sacrifice all of one’s possessions, and being grateful to the Lord despite adversity (tractate Berachoth 9:5). Rabbinic literature differs as to how this love can be developed, e.g., by contemplating divine deeds or witnessing the marvels of nature.

As for love between marital partners, this is deemed an essential ingredient to life: «See life with the wife you love» (Ecclesiastes 9:9). Rabbi David Wolpe writes that «…love is not only about the feelings of the lover…It is when one person believes in another person and shows it.» He further states that «…love…is a feeling that expresses itself in action. What we really feel is reflected in what we do.»^[50] The biblical book Song of Solomon is considered a romantically phrased metaphor of love between God and his people, but in its plain reading, reads like a love song. The 20th-century rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler is frequently quoted as defining love from the Jewish point of view as «giving without expecting to take» (from his Michtav me-Eliyahu, Vol. 1).

Christianity

The Christian understanding is that love comes from God, who is himself love (1 John 4:8). The love of man and woman—eros in Greek—and the unselfish love of others (agape), are often contrasted as «descending» and «ascending» love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing.^[51]

There are several Greek words for «love» that are regularly referred to in Christian circles.

• Agape: In the New Testament, agapē is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love, seen as creating goodness in the world; it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is seen as the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for one another.^[37]
• Phileo: Also used in the New Testament, phileo is a human response to something that is found to be delightful. Also known as «brotherly love.»
• Two other words for love in the Greek language, eros (sexual love) and storge (child-to-parent love), were never used in the New Testament.^[37]

Christians believe that to Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength and Love your neighbor as yourself are the two most important things in life (the greatest commandment of the Jewish Torah, according to Jesus; cf. Gospel of Mark chapter 12, verses 28–34). Saint Augustine summarized this when he wrote «Love God, and do as thou wilt.»

The Apostle Paul glorified love as the most important virtue of all. Describing love in the famous poetic interpretation in 1 Corinthians, he wrote, «Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.»^[52]

The Apostle John wrote, «For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.» (John 3:16–17, NIV) John also wrote, «Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.»^[53]

Saint Augustine wrote that one must be able to decipher the difference between love and lust. Lust, according to Saint Augustine, is an overindulgence, but to love and be loved is what he has sought for his entire life. He even says, «I was in love with love.» Finally, he does fall in love and is loved back, by God. Saint Augustine says the only one who can love you truly and fully is God, because love with a human only allows for flaws such as «jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention.» According to Saint Augustine, to love God is «to attain the peace which is yours.» (Saint Augustine’s Confessions)

Augustine regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian faith and the interpretation of the Bible. After the review of Christian doctrine, Augustine treats the problem of love in terms of use and enjoyment until the end of Book I of De Doctrina Christiana (1.22.21–1.40.44;).^[54]

Christian theologians see God as the source of love, which is mirrored in humans and their own loving relationships. Influential Christian theologian C. S. Lewis wrote a book called The Four Loves. Benedict XVI named his first encyclical God is love. He said that a human being, created in the image of God, who is love, is able to practice love; to give himself to God and others (agape) and by receiving and experiencing God’s love in contemplation (eros). This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and Mary, the mother of Jesus and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them.^[51]

Pope Francis taught that «True love is both loving and letting oneself be loved…what is important in love is not our loving, but allowing ourselves to be loved by God.»^[55] And so, in the analysis of a Catholic theologian, for Pope Francis, «the key to love…is not our activity. It is the activity of the greatest, and the source, of all the powers in the universe: God’s.»^[56]

In Christianity the practical definition of love is summarised by Thomas Aquinas, who defined love as «to will the good of another,» or to desire for another to succeed.^[17] This is an explanation of the Christian need to love others, including their enemies. As Thomas Aquinas explains, Christian love is motivated by the need to see others succeed in life, to be good people.

Regarding love for enemies, Jesus is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew:

«You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.»^[57]

Do not forget to love with forgiveness, Christ saved an adulterous woman from those who would stone her. A world of wronged hypocrites needs forgiving love. Mosaic Law would hold Deuteronomy 22:22-24 «If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel. If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.»

Tertullian wrote regarding love for enemies: «Our individual, extraordinary, and perfect goodness consists in loving our enemies. To love one’s friends is common practice, to love one’s enemies only among Christians.»^[58]

Islam

Love encompasses the Islamic view of life as universal brotherhood that applies to all who hold faith. Amongst the 99 names of God (Allah), there is the name Al-Wadud, or «the Loving One,» which is found in Surah ^{[ 11:90]} as well as Surah ^{[ 85:14]}. God is also referenced at the beginning of every chapter in the Qur’an as Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim, or the «Most Compassionate» and the «Most Merciful», indicating that nobody is more loving, compassionate and benevolent than God. The Qur’an refers to God as being «full of loving kindness.»

The Qur’an exhorts Muslim believers to treat all people, those who have not persecuted them, with birr or «deep kindness» as stated in Surah ^{[ 6:8-9]}. Birr is also used by the Qur’an in describing the love and kindness that children must show to their parents.

Ishq, or divine love, is the emphasis of Sufism in the Islamic tradition. Practitioners of Sufism believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe. God desires to recognize beauty, and as if one looks at a mirror to see oneself, God «looks» at himself within the dynamics of nature. Since everything is a reflection of God, the school of Sufism practices seeing the beauty inside the apparently ugly. Sufism is often referred to as the religion of love.^[59] God in Sufism is referred to in three main terms, which are the Lover, Loved, and Beloved, with the last of these terms being often seen in Sufi poetry. A common viewpoint of Sufism is that through love, humankind can get back to its inherent purity and grace. The saints of Sufism are infamous for being «drunk» due to their love of God; hence, the constant reference to wine in Sufi poetry and music.

Bahá’í Faith

In his Paris Talks, `Abdu’l-Bahá described four types of love: the love that flows from God to human beings; the love that flows from human beings to God; the love of God towards the Self or Identity of God; and the love of human beings for human beings.^[60]

Dharmic

Buddhism

In Buddhism, Kāma is sensuous, sexual love. It is an obstacle on the path to enlightenment, since it is selfish. Karuṇā is compassion and mercy, which reduces the suffering of others. It is complementary to wisdom and is necessary for enlightenment. Adveṣa and mettā are benevolent love. This love is unconditional and requires considerable self-acceptance. This is quite different from ordinary love, which is usually about attachment and sex and which rarely occurs without self-interest. Instead, in Buddhism it refers to detachment and unselfish interest in others’ welfare.

The Bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism involves the complete renunciation of oneself in order to take on the burden of a suffering world.

Hinduism

In Hinduism, kāma is pleasurable, sexual love, personified by the god Kamadeva. For many Hindu schools, it is the third end (Kama) in life. Kamadeva is often pictured holding a bow of sugar cane and an arrow of flowers; he may ride upon a great parrot. He is usually accompanied by his consort Rati and his companion Vasanta, lord of the spring season. Stone images of Kamadeva and Rati can be seen on the door of the Chennakeshava temple at Belur, in Karnataka, India. Maara is another name for kāma.

In contrast to kāma, prema – or prem – refers to elevated love. Karuna is compassion and mercy, which impels one to help reduce the suffering of others. Bhakti is a Sanskrit term, meaning «loving devotion to the supreme God.» A person who practices bhakti is called a bhakta. Hindu writers, theologians, and philosophers have distinguished nine forms of bhakti, which can be found in the Bhagavata Purana and works by Tulsidas. The philosophical work Narada Bhakti Sutras, written by an unknown author (presumed to be Narada), distinguishes eleven forms of love.

In certain Vaishnava sects within Hinduism, attaining unadulterated, unconditional and incessant love for Godhead is considered the foremost goal of life. Gaudiya Vaishnavas who worship Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the cause of all causes consider Love for Godhead (Prema) to act in two ways: sambhoga and vipralambha (union and separation)—two opposites.^[61]

In the condition of separation, there is an acute yearning for being with the beloved and in the condition of union, there is supreme happiness and nectarean. Gaudiya Vaishnavas consider that Krishna-prema (Love for Godhead) is not fire but that it still burns away one’s material desires. They consider that Kṛṣṇa-prema is not a weapon, but it still pierces the heart. It is not water, but it washes away everything—one’s pride, religious rules, and one’s shyness. Krishna-prema is considered to make one drown in the ocean of transcendental ecstasy and pleasure. The love of Radha, a cowherd girl, for Krishna is often cited as the supreme example of love for Godhead by Gaudiya Vaishnavas. Radha is considered to be the internal potency of Krishna, and is the supreme lover of Godhead. Her example of love is considered to be beyond the understanding of material realm as it surpasses any form of selfish love or lust that is visible in the material world. The reciprocal love between Radha (the supreme lover) and Krishna (God as the Supremely Loved) is the subject of many poetic compositions in India such as the Gita Govinda and Hari Bhakti Shuddhodhaya.

In the Bhakti tradition within Hinduism, it is believed that execution of devotional service to God leads to the development of Love for God (taiche bhakti-phale krsne prema upajaya), and as love for God increases in the heart, the more one becomes free from material contamination (krishna-prema asvada haile, bhava nasa paya). Being perfectly in love with God or Krishna makes one perfectly free from material contamination. and this is the ultimate way of salvation or liberation. In this tradition, salvation or liberation is considered inferior to love, and just an incidental by-product. Being absorbed in Love for God is considered to be the perfection of life.^[62]

Political views

Free love

The term «free love» has been used^[63] to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage. The free love movement’s initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It claimed that such issues were the concern of the people involved, and no one else.^[64]

Many people in the early 19th century believed that marriage was an important aspect of life to «fulfill earthly human happiness.» Middle-class Americans wanted the home to be a place of stability in an uncertain world. This mentality created a vision of strongly defined gender roles, which provoked the advancement of the free love movement as a contrast.^[65]

Advocates of free love had two strong beliefs: opposition to the idea of forceful sexual activity in a relationship and advocacy for a woman to use her body in any way that she pleases.^[66] These are also beliefs of feminism.^[67]

Philosophical views

The philosophy of love is a field of social philosophy and ethics that attempts to explain the nature of love.^[68] The philosophical investigation of love includes the tasks of distinguishing between the various kinds of personal love, asking if and how love is or can be justified, asking what the value of love is, and what impact love has on the autonomy of both the lover and the beloved.^[67]

See also

• Color wheel theory of love
• Human bonding
• Love at first sight
• Love-in
• Pair bond
• Polyamory
• Relationship science
• Romance (love)
• Self-love
• Social connection
• Traditional forms, Agape, Philia, Philautia, Storge, Eros: Greek terms for love

References

Sources

Further reading

• Bayer, A, ed. (2008). Art and love in Renaissance Italy. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

External links

• History of Love, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Friendship at Curlie
• Philanthropy at Curlie
• Romance at Curlie

Love is a feeling, a deep sense of affection you have for someone…. To describe love in one word is quite difficult but if I’m to answer this, I would say, that one word would be UNDERSTANDING. Understanding is like the root of any relationship, be it with your parents or siblings or with opposite sex.

How can you define love?

The word is mostly used according to the first definition given in the dictionary: “an intense feeling of deep affection.” In other words, love is what one feels. Love should be seen not as a feeling but as an enacted emotion. To love is to feel and act lovingly

What are the 5 ways to show love?

We all give and receive love in 5 different ways: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch

Is love an expression?

The word love is used as an expression of affection towards someone else (I love you) but it also expresses pleasure (I love chocolate). To make it a little more complicated, the word “love” also expresses a human virtue that is based on compassion, affection and kindness

What should I say to my lover?

Things to Say in Love Notes

• I smile every time I think of you.
• You are the most important person in my life, now and always.
• I miss your kisses.
• You are my soulmate.
• In all my life, I never believed I’d find a love like this.
• As hard as I try, mere words really aren’t enough to express how I feel about you.

What words make a girl feel special?

Here aret things to say to a girl:

• I wish you were a coin.
• If my days started with a kiss from you then I would never drink coffee.
• You brighten up my day every time I see you.
• I want to make time stand still when I’m with you but time always finds a way to fly past.

How do I make her fall in love with me?

10 Ways to Make Her Fall in Love

1. Start – and continue – a great conversation.
2. Compliment her.
3. Don’t ghost on her.
4. Don’t be too serious.
5. Ask her about the people who matter.
6. Surprise her subtly.
7. Be mindful of body language.
8. Don’t just court her, attract her.

How do you tell if a woman really loves you?

14 Biggest Signs To Tell If She Loves You

1. She Worries About You.
2. She Shows Signs of Jealousy.
3. She Shows Interest in Your Personal Life.
4. She Always Makes Time for You.
5. She Hates Being Away From You for Long Periods.
6. She Takes Caring to New Levels.
7. She’s Your Cheerleader.
8. She Always Speaks Highly of You.

How do you make a girl miss you badly?

How To Make Her Miss You

1. BE A LITTLE MYSTERIOUS.
2. DON’T TALK TOO MUCH ABOUT YOURSELF.
3. SLOW DOWN WITH THE TECHNOLOGY.
4. SPEND SOME TIME APART.
5. SHOW HER A FUN TIME.
6. DON’T TALK TOO LONG ON THE PHONE.
7. DON’T ACT DESPERATE.
8. DON’T TRY TO KEEP TRACK OF HER ALL THE TIME.

How do you make a girl feel loved?

22 Simple Ways to Make a Girl Fall in Love With You

1. Accept Her As She Is. One of the main ways a woman falls in love is when she knows she can be herself around you.
2. Be Open With Emotions.
3. Put Her First.
4. Understand and Honor Her Love Language.
5. Be Confident and Passionate.
6. Show Appropriate Affection.
7. Lighten Her Load.
8. Show You’re Reliable and Dependable.

What words make a girl smile?

19 Heartfelt Texts That Will Make Her Smile Like Crazy

• “Hey beautiful.
• “I was just thinking about how wonderful you are.
• “God, your laugh is incredible.”
• “You’re everything to me.”
• “I’m counting down the minutes until I get to see you.”
• “I’m so in love with you.”
• “I can’t stop thinking about how insanely beautiful you are.”
• “I’m so excited to experience life with you.”

What makes a woman love a man deeply?

There are two main things that cause a woman to fall in love with a man, and those two things are: Respect and attraction. confidence, drive and ambition, masculinity, emotional strength), he will be able to trigger a woman’s feelings of sexual desire for him.

How does a man flirt?

If a guy likes you, he will flirt with you through lighthearted banter, some innocent jokes, and good-humored teasing. The real test on whether he likes you and if he’s flirting with you is if he pays attention to you or his friends. If he puts them off to talk to you or keep spending time with you, you win.

The word is mostly used according to the first definition given in the dictionary: “an intense feeling of deep affection.” In other words, love is what one feels. Love should be seen not as a feeling but as an enacted emotion. To love is to feel and act lovingly.

What are more words for love?

SYNONYMS FOR love

• 1 tenderness, fondness, predilection, warmth, passion, adoration.
• 2 liking, inclination, regard, friendliness.
• 16 adore, adulate, worship.

How can you define love?

: a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person. : attraction that includes sexual desire : the strong affection felt by people who have a romantic relationship. : a person you love in a romantic way.

What is love in single line?

Originally Answered: Can we define love in a just a single line? “Affection and care without any insecurity” Love is when you’re happy for the other person’s happiness even if they’re not with you. It’s when you’re by yourself but you wish the best for the other person.

What is the best love quote?

Short Love Quotes

• “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” –
• “You call it madness, but I call it love.” –
• “We can only learn to love by loving.” –
• “A life lived in love will never be dull.” –
• “Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” –
• “All you need is love.” –
• “True love stories never have endings.” –

How can I express my love in one line?

30 Romantic 1 Liner Quotes list to send as Text Message:

1. When the angels ask what I most loved about life, I’ll say you.
2. Love isn’t complicated, people are.
3. Roses are red violets are blue don’t cast me away because I love.
4. I will never regret loving you, only believing you loved me too.
5. You and me make a wonderful “WE”

What is love Short Line?

Sweet Short Love Quotes One day, I caught myself smiling without no reason, then I realized that I was thinking of you. Every love story is beautiful but ours is my favorite. I only want two things in this world.

How do you write love in short?

The 23 Ways To Type “Love,” Defined

1. I love you = I’m saying “I love you” in the most natural way possible over text.
2. I love you.
3. I love you!
4. I love u = Bashful and blushing.
5. I luv you = I have lots of admiration for you, but saying “love,” is like, whoa, weird.
6. Luv ya = A warm send-off for close friends.

How do you express love in short words?

Expressing Deep Love in Words

1. I cherish you.
2. I want a lifetime with you.
3. I adore you.
4. I am better because of you.
5. I need you by my side.
6. I cannot stop thinking about you.
7. My love for you is unconditional and eternal.
8. All of the good in my life is because of you.

How do you write love?

E) Exercises For Writing About Love

1. Write a love letter from your protagonist to the person they love most.
2. Write a love letter from your antagonist to the person they love most.
3. Create a playlist of love songs for your four main characters.
4. Write about the disintegration of a loving relationship. (

How do you respond to I Love You in a cute way?

Alternative Responses To I Love You

1. I love you way more.
2. Thank you for loving me.
3. I am so obsessed with you.
4. There is nothing better than hearing you say that.
5. You make the world a better place.
6. No, I love you!
7. You are the only person who can make me smile constantly.

What is the best answer for how much you love me?

Best Answer to How Much Do You Love Me. I love you more than words can express! More than yesterday and less than tomorrow. I love uh so much that I will never let you stand alone.

Why do love me answer?

You light up my world. Even in my darkest moments, I still find a reason and hope in you. The assurance that someone loves me is enough to keep me forging on. I love you because, with you, I had the confidence and wit to share the parts of me that I have never shared with anyone, let alone share with myself.

How do you know how much I love her?

Think about the way that she acts around you. You should be able to tell if she likes you by the way she looks at you and the amount of attention that she gives you. If you’re going to tell her that you love her, she should at least have said that she likes you a lot.

When your boyfriend ask how much you love him?

3. “My love for you is like, when you hold me it’s like I own the world” Nothing better to describe your love for him but the words above. When you own the world, you feel victorious and it seems like everything is possible.

How do u prove U love someone?

There are a million ways to show the one you love just how much you care.

1. Remember to flirt.
2. Listen to your lover.
3. Experience new things together.
4. Keep each other healthy.
5. Build something together.
6. Talk about your deepest feelings.
7. Go for an annual relationship check-up.
8. Remember your vows – even if you aren’t married.

Who falls in love first?

A study of 172 college students found men reported falling in love earlier than women and expressing that sentiment first. According to Broadly, the reason men are quicker to say ‘I love you’ may be because women are biologically predisposed to be pickier when selecting a partner.

How do you melt a man’s heart?

These Are The Best Ways To Be Cute And Melt A Guy’s Heart

1. Always be smiling.
2. Keep switching which foot you’re holding your weight on.
3. Talk at a low volume.
4. Twirl your hair when you’re talking to him.
5. It’s ok to be awkward.
6. Drop little jokes from time to time.
7. Wear as little makeup as possible.
8. Enjoy yourself.

Can I tell him I love him first?

All I could say was that he said it first and it seemed like the nice thing to say in response.” It is not part of romantic etiquette to tell someone that you love him just because he has declared his love for you. It is, in fact, probably best not to respond by saying. It does not have to be love at first sight.

Should I tell him I love him or wait?

Since you are in a new relationship, there is no harm in waiting to tell him that you love him. This will give you time to be sure that you truly love him and are not just excited about your new relationship. If you truly love him, you will love him in a few months too. You can tell simply tell him that you love him.

How soon is too soon to say LOVE YOU?

According to 2020 OKCupid data on 6,000 people shared with mindbodygreen, 62% of people think you should say “I love you” “as soon as you feel it,” whereas 22% think you should wait “several months,” and 3% think you should wait “at least a year.” On average, research has found men take about three months to say “I …

Can you describe love in one word? Human being has been struggling since past to find out the true meaning of love. But till now none can find the exact meaning of love. So, people use metaphoric synonyms for expressing their love for something.

Love is a complete mixture of enormous humane qualities. It can not be seen, none can touch it. Just one has to feel the glaciers of love.

From age to age, many people sacrificed their lives for their beloved ones. Some people fall in love with their motherlands, where some fall with their life partners. Again, you can see some people sacrificing their lives for their religion.

In general, there is no specific reason or criteria to fall in love with something. Similarly, there is no specific thing for which one will fall in love.

Are you interested in loving something? But don’t know what is it the true meaning of love? This happens to most people who are teenagers or in their adolescent period. They just judge the outer beauty of a person and fall in love with him or her.

And they think that they are in love with that person. But this is a foolish thought. The physical beauty of a person is not permanent. It will lose with time. But the inner beauty of a person will remain forever till the person is alive.

The inner beauty of a person is permanent. If you are a passionate lover or interested to know about love, then this article is for you.

Define Or Describe Love In One Word

Love is a metaphor. You can never find or define it perfectly. You can feel it like you feel the air around you. Many poets, writers, journalists, authors tried to define love in specific words. But they failed to find the real meaning of love. The summary of their thoughts is love is a psychological attraction between two people or other things.

It doesn’t depend on the outlook of the particular thing one loves. They just try to owe that. When someone is in love, then that thing becomes a world to him/her. In one word, love can be defined as:

Responsibility

Responsibility towards something reflects how much one loves something. If you are responsible for your mother then that means you love her. Again, if you are responsible for your country, you will die for your country. That will not bear you any regret. Philosophers say that “love comes with responsibility, responsibility comes with love”.

Care

When you care for someone, then it reflects that you have a love for him/her. A person cares for his/her children because he/she loves them. Caring for someone is a form of loving someone. These two are interrelated with each other.

Honesty

Honest persons are lovable to everyone. This is a crucial factor in love. The honesty of a person adores his/her character. It shapes the strength of love between two persons.

Affection

Once you love someone, then you are affectionate for him/her. All the humane quantities are capable of expressing love for something. Affectionate peoples are more capable of loving someone. It expresses your love for someone. This is a kind of media to show your love and attraction for him/her.

Dedication

History can show you a lot of examples where one sacrificed their lives, desires for their loving ones. The martyrs are perfect examples in this case. In 1971, the freedom fighters have sacrificed their lives to liberate their mother nation Bangladesh.

Again, persons like Hazrat Hamza (Ra) sacrificed their lives for their religion. Sometimes, fathers lead a miserable life to make a bright future for their children. This shows you how you love your favorite things.

Commitment

Commitment means how you can feel connected and engaged with someone. This commitment allows you to come closer to your beloved ones, you can feel their morals inside you. At last, it builds your world with happiness.

Marriage

To me, marriage is the most beautiful and perfect way to express your love for anyone. This is regarded as the purest way to express your love. By nature, a person is attracted to his/her opposite gender. He or she will try to find their life partner. This is the beauty of love.

Love shows you how you can sacrifice something for your loving one, how you feel when you are disconnected from your loving one. And by marrying someone, you can achieve caring, affection, responsibility, etc. from your spouse.

You have to take responsibility for the family, children, spouse, and others. In a word, marriage is the most complete package of love.

Criteria To Fall In Love

Sometimes we fall in love with a person without knowing them. In most cases, this type of attraction is not real love. Because they don’t know each other perfectly. Just a little chitchat doesn’t reflect the personality of the person. It is a time-consuming process where you will need long-term understanding. There are some criteria to fall in love with another person. These are:

1. You have to be honest about this relationship. In today’s era, people just pass their time with their partners. Where they should stand beside their partners in their hard times. And this destroys the emotion of a person. So, be honest with your man.
2. The capability of taking responsibility is one of the most important factors in this regard. Because when you own someone after loving, responsibility of that will be handed over upon you. For this reason, try to be a responsible person before loving anyone.
3. Be loyal to your partner because loyalty is the basis of love. Love comes from loyalty and honestly. Affection, caring ability also will allow you to love someone.

These are the foremost criteria to fall in love. This is an aesthetic connection between two people. So, be a good person to owe your love.

Describe Love In One Word

Love is a powerful emotion that can make our lives feel so much better. It can fill us with happiness and make us feel loved and cared for. It can be a source of comfort and strength in times of difficulty. And, of course, there’s nothing like abit of love in the air to make everything feel just a little bit more perfect!

So, what word would you use to describe love? My personal favorite is “cherished.” I think it sums up love perfectly – it’s cherished, loved, and always remembered. Thanks for asking!

For me, love is a delicate and powerful thing that can truly make a difference in someone’s life. It’s the emotion that drives us to do the impossible – to sacrificially give of ourselves, no matter what the cost. Love is unending and limitless, and it can bring us happiness beyond words.

Love is Security

There’s no better way to describe love than as security. When we love someone, we feel safe and secure in their presence. It’s a feeling of safety and security that can be incredibly comforting, and it’s something that we all need from time to time. Here are four ways love can help us feel secure:

1. Love keeps us grounded – When we’re feeling lost or out of control, love is a constant source of stability and comfort. Love allows us to focus on the good things in our lives, rather than worrying about the negative ones.
2. Love helps us forgive – When something bad happens in our relationship, love helps us forgive the other person. Forgiveness not only heals our wounds, but it also gives us the sense of security that comes with knowing that our loved one is still in our life.
3. Love provides motivation – When we’re facing a difficult challenge, love can provide us with the motivation we need to get through it. Love is patient and understanding, which makes it a great source of strength when times are tough.
4. Love can heal wounds – Sometimes love isn’t enough – we may need more than just comfort and security from our loved ones in order to heal from a hurtful experience. In these cases, therapy may be necessary to help us process the hurt and repair the damage.

Love is one of the most important things in our lives, and it’s something that can provide us with a lot of security and comfort when we need it most.

Love is Indescribable

That’s a rather poetic and complex answer to a rather simple question, isn’t it?

In short, love is indescribable because it’s a feeling that cannot be fully described in words. However, we can all understand it and feel it in some way or another. After all, love is the most powerful force in the world!

Yes, love is indescribable. And that’s why it feels so special when you find it. There is no one way to experience love – it can be passionate, gentle, sweet, or anything in between. What matters most is how you feel about the person you love. When you’re in love, everything else falls away and all you can focus on is the connection you have with that person.

Love is About Give-and-Take

True love is about ongoing give-and-take. One person gives their all to make the relationship work, and the other person does the same in return. This means that both people put in a lot of effort and sacrifice to make the relationship work.

When one person starts to feel like they’re not getting their fair share of the love, it can be hard for them to maintain the relationship.

For example, if one partner always has to work late or take care of extra responsibilities at home, it can be hard for them to feel loved and appreciated. This can lead to feelings of resentment and hurt, which can eventually damage the relationship.

One way to avoid this is for both partners to communicate honestly and openly about their feelings. This will help prevent misunderstandings and keep the love flowing smoothly.

Love is Being In-Sync

Whenever we feel love, we are in-sync with our deepest desires and needs. When we are in-sync, we feel at ease and happy. This is because we are fulfilling our deepest emotional needs. In fact, when we are in-sync with our emotions, it’s easier to make smart decisions. Here are four ways to become more in-sync with your emotions:

1. LISTEN to your intuition – Our intuition is a powerful tool that can help us navigate through life’s challenges. When you listen to your intuition, you will be better able to understand and respond to your emotions.
2. BE PRESENT – When you’re present, you’re not worrying about the past or the future. You’re here in the present moment and that’s where you should stay as much as possible. When you’re in the present moment, you’re more likely to be in-sync with your emotions.
3. BE VIGILANT – Just because you’re in-sync doesn’t mean everything is perfect and calm. You need to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings at all times so that you don’t drift away from your emotions.
4. COMMUNICATE YOUR EMOTIONS – It’s important to share your emotions with someone else so that they can help you stay in-sync. Talking openly about our feelings allows us to connect more deeply with others and increase the chances of being in-sync with them as well.

Thanks for asking! These tips will definitely help you become more in-sync with your emotions and make better decisions!

Love is Vulnerability

Love is vulnerability. It’s allowing yourself to be open to being hurt, and it’s trusting that the other person will do the same for you. When you’re in a relationship, you’re putting your trust in the other person to be there for you – whether that means when you’re feeling down, or when you need them to be there for a disagreement.

When you love someone, you’re opening yourself up to their hurt as well as their joy. You’re willing to put yourself out there, even if it feels risky. And in return, your partner should do the same for you – they should be willing to let themselves be vulnerable and let you see inside them.

This is what makes love so special – it’s the willingness of both people to let themselves be vulnerable and open, and it’s what makes the relationship so strong.

Idioms about love and Theory of Love

There are lots of idioms and sayings about love that you may find confusing or hard to understand. In this article, we will try to provide a simple and concise explanation of some of the most common theories about love.

Love is often described as an emotion or feeling, and there are many different theories about what love is and how it works. Some people believe that love is simply a chemical reaction in the brain, while others believe that love is something that you build over time.

In general, the most popular theories about love are based on evolutionary psychology. According to this theory, humans are designed to seek out and mate with someone who will provide them with the best possible chance of reproduction.

Therefore, love is often seen as a way of making people feel good about themselves, which can encourage them to stay together even when they are not compatible.

Another popular theory about love is the Romeo and Juliet model. This theory suggests that Romeo and Juliet were in love because they were attracted to each other despite their differences (Romeo was wealthy and famous, while Juliet was poor and uneducated).

As a result of their passionate love, their deaths ultimately led to a greater understanding between the two communities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I will suggest you find out the real meaning of love by observing your life. Love is a humane quality built inside every soul. Animals also sense the taste of love. Truth is, love is a gift from the Creator.

Don’t spoil this for any irrelevant reason. Make your love more holiest. I hope now you get an idea about describe love in one word. Thank you for reading this article.

Love is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? It can make the world a much better place, and it’s something that we all need in our lives. It can brighten up our days and make us feel happy.

But what does love really mean to you? Do you know what emotions go along with love? What do you think is the most important ingredient of a healthy and fulfilling relationship?

We’ve gathered some of the most common answers to these questions, and we want you to share yours in the comments below! Love is something that is often misunderstood, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn more about it. So what is your definition of love? Write it down and share it with us!

FAQs

1.what Does the Bible Say About Loving Yourself?

Self-love is a central tenet of the Bible, and it’s something that everyone should strive for. Here are a few passages from the Bible that discuss self-love and how it should be practiced:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43-44)

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

“Do not be fooled: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. What you sow, this will you also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)

“But I tell you this: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be able to help them.” (Matthew 5:44)

2.there Are Six Styles of Love. Which One Best Describes You?

There are six styles of love, and each one has its own unique set of pros and cons. In order to find out which one best describes you, take the following quiz:

1. Romantic love is all about taking care of the other person. It’s about sacrificially giving your time, energy, and love to make the other person happy.
2. Friend love is all about being there for the other person when they need you. It’s about supporting them through thick and thin and never letting them down.
3. Parental love is all about sacrificing your own happiness for the good of the other person. It’s about doing anything and everything to make sure that they’re happy and fulfilled.
4. Attached love is all about being in a toxic relationship where both parties are completely taken advantage of. It’s about being suffocated by your partner’s negative emotions and never feeling safe or loved again.
5. Lust is all about physical attraction and superficiality. It’s about wanting someone for their looks rather than their personality or character.
6. Romantic passion is all about a deep, emotional connection that goes beyond mere attraction or lust – it’s about falling in love with someone completely over time, no matter what happens between them and you in the meantime. This is the type of love that lasts forever!

If you answered romantic passion, then that describes you best – you are actively looking for a deep, emotional connection with someone else that will last forever!

3.how to Describe the Person You Love?

There is no one answer to this question, as every person loves and expresses themselves in their own unique way. However, some general things that might be said about someone that you love could include their being kind, gentle, and caring. You might also describe them as intelligent, creative, and optimistic. The best way to describe someone is to simply let them speak for themselves!

4.what Is the Word to Describe a Person Who Loves Life?

The word to describe someone who loves life might be “energetic.” They are always moving forward and looking for new experiences, whether that is participating in sports or exploring new hobbies. They are constantly energised and seem to have a lot of enthusiasm for everything they do.

5.which Word Best Describes Someone Who Loves to Read?

The best word to describe someone who loves to read might be “geeky.” They enjoy reading books from all genres and often have a wide range of books in their library. They are interested in learning as much as they can, and love spending time reading alone or with friends.

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.

Asked by: Ralph Beahan

Score: 4.5/5
(60 votes)

Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure.

What does love mean in a relationship?

1. A strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship. 2. A strong feeling of affection and concern for another person accompanied by sexual attraction. 3.

What is the best definition of love?

1 : a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person motherly/maternal love fatherly/paternal love See More Examples. Hide. 2 : attraction that includes sexual desire : the strong affection felt by people who have a romantic relationship a declaration of love He was just a lonely man looking for love.

What can love mean?

Love means knowing that no matter what, you have someone to count on. It’s unconditional and makes you feel good on the inside. You can trust the person you love and are comfortable around them. It’s like your heart tells you that it is good for you.

How do you describe love?

Love is complex. A mix of emotions, behaviors, and beliefs associated with strong feelings of affection, protectiveness, warmth, and respect for another person. Love can also be used to apply to non-human animals, to principles, and to religious beliefs.

16 related questions found

The word is mostly used according to the first definition given in the dictionary: “an intense feeling of deep affection.” In other words, love is what one feels. Love should be seen not as a feeling but as an enacted emotion. To love is to feel and act lovingly.

What are romantic sentences?

Here are some handy English romantic phrases for dating.

• Love makes the world go round. Some people think that money makes the world go round.
• Your better half. This refers to your partner.
• The light of my life.
• She drives me crazy!
• Falling in love.
• Perfect match.
• Seeing, Dating, Going steady.
• You are too good to be true!

What should I say to my lover?

Sweet Things to Say to Your Boyfriend

• I love you for everything you are.
• I feel so safe with your arms around me.
• I can’t stop smiling around you. You make me so happy.
• I crave you more than pizza.
• I love your _____.
• You’re more than my boyfriend.
• Every day is an adventure with you.
• I’d do anything to see you smile.

What is love in single line?

Originally Answered: Can we define love in a just a single line? “Affection and care without any insecurity” Love is when you’re happy for the other person’s happiness even if they’re not with you. It’s when you’re by yourself but you wish the best for the other person.

How can I express my love in one line?

30 Romantic 1 Liner Quotes list to send as Text Message:

1. When the angels ask what I most loved about life, I’ll say you.
2. Love isn’t complicated, people are.
3. Roses are red violets are blue don’t cast me away because I love.
4. I will never regret loving you, only believing you loved me too.
5. You and me make a wonderful “WE”

What is happy in sign language?

To sign happy, take your open hand (or both hands) and brush up your chest a couple of times. The sign for happy is very similar to the sign for excited, but the difference is that with excited, your hands take turns touching either side of your chest and only the middle fingers brush against your chest.

How do you say I miss you in sign language?

If you mean “miss” as in “I miss my ASL teacher” or “I miss you” then use the version of MISS that pokes the chin with an index finger.

How do you sign want?

The want sign looks you are pulling something toward you. Place your hands out, with hands open and palms facing up, making your hands bent a little into a claw shape. Then pull both your hands toward you.

How do you sign do you want more?

To do the sign for more, flatten out your hands then bring your thumbs and fingers together, to make flat ‘O’ hands in ASL. Then, bring your hands together and pull them apart repeatedly.

How do you sign wait?

To sign wait, hold up both your open hands, palms facing up and fingers spread out Then wiggle your fingers as you simultaneously make circular movements with both open hands, up and away a short distance, then down and toward your body again. Repeat the sequence.

How do you sign from?

American Sign Language: “from” The sign for “from” starts with the dominant hand in a “1” handshape (as an index finger), and then changes into an “x.” The base hand: Starts and STAYS as an index finger. Pull the dominant hand back away from the non-dominant hand as if pulling back a string on a bow.

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If you are looking for the various definitions of love, we have compiled a list of what love is all about according to different scholars and dictionaries.

What is love?

When it comes to love, there are a lot of different definitions out there. For some people, love is simply a feeling of strong affection and attraction. For others, love is more about companionship, trust, and commitment. And for others still, love is something that goes even deeper – it’s a feeling of soul connection and true intimacy.

In the end, there is no one “right” definition of love. It’s a word that means different things to different people, and that’s okay. We all have our own unique experiences and perspectives on what love is and what it means to us.

Love can be defined in different ways by different people, depending on your own understanding of what love is all about.

Love is “a strong feeling of deep affection for somebody or something. It involves many different feelings, but when one loves, one avoids hurting others.” Another definition is that love is “accepting others as they are without trying to change them. It is a warm, affectionate feeling, attachment, or likeness of oneself and others.” It is the ability to tolerate others, even in difficult situations. Love can further be defined as the only healing to a wounded soul.

Ways to define Love

1.” Love is a strong feeling of deep affection for somebody or something”

2.” Love is an intense feeling of affection you feel”

3.” Love is a burning desire that cannot be easily quenched”

4.” Love is a passionate feeling that goes beyond ordinary like for something or someone”

5. “Love is accepting people as they are, and trying to bring the change they need to have a better life.”

6. Love is a very strong emotion for something or someone.

7. “Love is the ability to see the pains of others even when you have your own.”

8. “Love is the ability to see through the eyes of others.”

9. “Love is the ability to forget past wrongs and still feel the same way for someone..”

10. “Love is about believing in someone even when they are not worthy of your trust.”

11. “Love is sacrificing your comfort for others.”

12. “Love is taking a risk for others.”

13. “Love is seeing someone going astray and finding a way to get them back on the track.”

14. “Love is giving without expecting anything in return.”

15. “Love is seeing the imperfection in others and still wanting to be with them.”

17. “Love is honoring everyone without being biased because of their status or background.”

18. “Love is seeing the good side of people even when others can’t see it.”

19. “Love is the ability to lift others while you’re rising.”

20. Love is being patient with someone who is totally the opposite of who you are.”

Love definitions by scholars

1. ” Love is a hole in the heart” by Ben Hecht

2. ” Love is a grave mental disease” by Plato

3. “Love is Desperate madness” according to John Ford

4. “Love is a sentimental measles” Charles Kingsley

5. “Love is a mutual understanding” according to Oscar Wilde

Definitions of Love by Dictionaries

1. “A great interest and pleasure in something” according to English Oxford Living Dictionary

2. “An affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interest” by Merriam Webster Dictionary

3. “Love means a strong feeling of affection and sexual attraction for someone” according to Lexico Dictionary

4. “Love means to like another adult very much and be romantically and sexually attracted to them, or to have strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family” by Cambridge Dictionary

5. “Love means a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person” according to Dictionary

6. “Love is an experience one person feels for another” according to Wikipedia

7. Love means a feeling of tenderness towards something or someone

8. Love is an intimate feeling for something or someone

9. Love means to have or develop sexual desire

10. Love means to develop passion, concern, and feelings for someone or something.

11. Love means to like something because it is good

12. Love means to take delight in something or someone.

Related: Can you ever stop loving someone?

Bible Definitions of Love

The Holy Bible in 1 Corinthians 13:4- 8 (Good News Bible) summarized love in the following ways:

• Love is patient and kind.
• It is not jealous or conceited or proud.
• Love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable
• It does not keep a record of wrongs.
• It is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth.
• Love never gives up, and its faith and patience never fail.
• Love is eternal.

Characteristics of love

Love has a special attribute that makes it distinct from other types of emotions we feel every day.

1. Love is selfless

One of the most common characteristics of love is that it is selfless. When you love someone, you are willing to put their needs above your own. You are willing to sacrifice your time, your energy, and your resources to make sure they are happy and taken care of.

2. Love is patient

Another quality of love is that it is patient. When you love someone, you learn to be patient with them. Patience has to do with tolerating and enduring certain things from others, with the hope that they will change someday.

3. Love is honest

You cannot talk about love and not include honesty. When you love someone, you try everything possible to tell them the truth, no matter the situation you may find yourself in.

4. Love trusts

Where there is no trust there is no love. Trust is the ability to confide in others even if you have not known much about each other. It is all about believing others and committing certain things to them, depending on the level of your relationship with them.

5. Love is risky

Loving others is a risk. It is a risk because you are committing yourself to do things for people who may in return hurt you. So, even if they might hurt you, you have made up your mind to love them.

6. Love makes sacrifices

Love is all about sacrificing certain things just to make others happy. Sometimes, it might involve your happiness, time, and money.

7. Love corrects

You rebuke or scold those you love. Any love without this quality is not genuine.

Types of Love

There are different types of love and they include:

1. Self Love

This kind of love involves acceptance and believing in oneself. It is important to know that before you can love others, you need to be able to love yourself first.

2. Friendship love

This type of love exists between friends who like each other, show commitment to one another, and share deep and intimate feelings with one another. This love can also be called philia or platonic love, which means, brotherly love. Platonic love is the type of love that is often seen between friends. It is a deep and strong love that is not based on any romantic or sexual feelings. This type of love is often built on trust, respect, and mutual understanding.

3. Unconditional love

Unconditional love: Unconditional love is the purest and most selfless type of love. It is the type of love that is not based on any conditions or expectations. This type of love is often seen in the love between a parent and child.

Related: Signs of true love in a relationship

3. Romantic Love

This love is characterized by intimacy and passion. It involves total absorption with strong feelings of elation, sexual desire, and arousal. It is equally called eros love. Romantic love is the type of love that is often portrayed in movies and novels. It is the passionate and intense love between two people who are attracted to each other. This type of love often leads to a strong physical and emotional connection between the two people.

4. Agape Love

This type of love is also called divine love. It is the natural love of God for humanity.

Synonyms of Love

tenderness, fondness, predilection, warmth, passion, adoration, adore, adulate, liking, inclination, regard, friendliness, intimacy, attachment, worship, etc.

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.