What is the true meaning of the word love

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

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. 

Coming up with a cohesive definition of love is a task that people have labored over for centuries. Because the love we feel for various people in our lives depends on context—how long we’ve known them, our specific relationship with them, etc.—it can be hard to conceptualize what love is exactly. Love can involve a mix of emotions, behaviors, and beliefs; and it is often associated with strong feelings of affection and respect. Some say that love is something that you only fully understand when you experience it yourself. While it is a hard concept to define, many have come up with different descriptions that help us better understand its different expressions. Below, we’re going to outline several different definitions of love and how they may apply to the relationships in your life. 

Love According To The Dictionary

The difficulty in creating an all-encompassing characterization of love is illustrated by the several different definitions that you come across in a dictionary. For example, the  of love according to Merriam-Webster range from “a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties” to “an assurance of affection”. 

The dictionary definitions will also change depending on the specific source you’re referencing. The Cambridge Dictionary, for instance, includes a definition that is romantic, platonic, and familial : “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”.

Love According To The Triangular Theory

Robert Sternberg’s  is a simple way of conceptualizing romantic love. According to this theory, true love is a combination of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. 

Intimacy

Intimacy can be described as the comforting connection you feel with someone. Intimacy often exists when we bond with someone on a deep level. It can happen when you and your partner spend meaningful time together, empathize with one another, and share your lives.  

Passion

Passion is characterized by a sexual attraction to someone. Passion may fluctuate over time, but it can still be an important aspect of a relationship. You may feel passion when you and your partner become physical, kiss, or even just look at each other. 

Commitment

Commitment indicates that one’s feelings have advanced to the point that they can see a future with their romantic interest. This aspect of love may develop when, for example, you ask your partner to move in with you. 

The three components of the triangular theory of love are interrelated; so, strengthening one area can help improve another. For example, you might notice how closely connected intimacy and commitment are when spending time alone with your partner makes you want to move in with them. 

Within this theory, there are eight different relationship types that may develop, based on which components exist in a partnership. For instance, you may experience romantic love—a love in which passion and intimacy are present, but commitment is not. Or you and your partner could feel companionate love—a love in which commitment and intimacy are present, but passion is not.

If a relationship covers all three points of the triangle, according to Sternberg’s theory, true love is present. Often, to develop these three components of love, you need to work past old habits, be vulnerable, and let someone see all of the different aspects of your personality and life. 

Love According To The Ancient Greeks

In ancient Greece, philosophers and other thinkers developed several different words for love, covering a range of relationships and situations. These forms of love help us understand how we express love for the people in our lives differently.  

Eros

Eros is a physical, sexual form of love. In Greece, Eros was the god of sexual desire. The Greeks believed this love could be dangerous, as it could cause people to behave in risky ways. Eros often happens during the beginning of a relationship, before deeper feelings take over. Eros doesn’t always indicate the presence of a partnership, though, and it doesn’t always lead to a more serious kind of love.

Philia

Philia is a platonic love—a love that you often see between friends. Philia was cherished in the world of ancient Greece as it was considered a pure form of love. Philia allows you to form a strong bond with friends, in which mutual affection and support are present. 

Ludus

Ludus is a light and flirtatious expression of love. It often happens early in a relationship, but it does not necessarily have to occur between partners. Often characteristic of the feelings between young people, ludus is often referred to as playful love.

Pragma

Pragma is a committed love that typically develops over a long period of time. Couples who experience pragma, which means practical, have formed a mutually beneficial relationship. This love embodies commitment, structure, and a common vision for the future. 

Agape

Agape love is characterized by selflessness and giving. It is often referred to as unconditional love, where you give without expecting to receive. It is also frequently attributed to people who are religious—the Greeks considered this type of love to be the love of the gods. 

Philautia

This is the love of yourself. However, there are two kinds of love that philautia can indicate. First, there’s a narcissistic form of self-love. Then, there’s the type of self-love marked by confidence, self-acceptance, and knowledge of your worth. With the latter type of love, you make efforts to practice self-compassion and care for yourself. Self-love can be an important part of being in a romantic relationship.

Storge

This is familial love. Storge can describe the love between a parent and child, siblings, or other family members. 

Storge can also apply to a close friend, particularly if they’re someone who you’ve grown up with.

How Do I Know If It’s Love?

When it comes to romantic relationships specifically, falling in love is an experience many people seek out. With all of the different definitions of love, though, it can be hard to know whether you indeed love someone. Although the presence of love in your life will depend on your exact situation and feelings, there are several signs that indicate you’re in love. 

One common indicator of love is empathy. When your partner feels discomfort, anger, or sadness, do you feel those emotions, too? Being able to understand and even experience your partner’s emotions is a sign that you have a loving relationship. 

You can also ask yourself whether you feel safe with your partner. While this can refer to physical safety, it may also describe a comfort and lack of distress when you’re around them. In some relationships, one partner feels as though they’re not able to say or do certain things, which can make it hard for a healthy partnership to form. 

If your partner prioritizes you in their life, commits to you, and works with you, that can signal the existence of love. This type of love is indicated in Sternberg’s triangular theory and the ancient Greeks’ pragma. Does your partner frequently talk about the future or want to share their life with you? This is a strong sign of love. 

In many cases, though, you’ll simply know that you’re in love. You may have an intuitive feeling that you’re with the right person or experience strong but ineffable emotions around them. In fact, the love you feel for your partner may be so unique that it doesn’t fit within someone else’s definition. 

If you’d like help parsing your feelings for your partner, talking to a therapist can help. A therapist can help you learn more about how you each prefer to express love while also giving you the tools to develop a strong, healthy relationship. 

Fostering Love With Online Therapy

Research shows that online therapy can help couples develop and nurture a loving relationship. In a study titled “More Than One Way to Say ‘I Love You’”, researchers found that online therapy improved participants’ ability to better understand one another and adopt more flexible points of view. Participants in the study reported experiencing enhanced relationship satisfaction and individual psychological improvement at a one-month follow-up. 

Online therapy can give you and your partner the tools and support to foster love in your relationship, regardless of how you define it. Utilizing an online therapy platform like ReGain, you and your partner can meet with a therapist remotely—through video call, voice call, or in-app messaging—which can be helpful if you’re not comfortable discussing topics like love in person. Your therapist can also connect you with useful resources, such as at-home exercises that can help you continue to develop a loving bond on your own time. Online therapy can help you and your partner address challenges in your relationship and develop a strong foundation of love. Continue reading for reviews of ReGain therapists from those who have sought help in the past. 

Therapist Reviews

“Sarah has been comforting to me through a very difficult transition. She has helped me to regain confidence and listen to my intuition. She is a great listener and has encouraged me to rediscover and use my voice.”

“With Cassandra’s help, we’ve been able to bring our relationship to a new, healthier, and much happier level, working through painful situations, growing as individuals and as a couple, and with tools to stay on this path. She’s very responsive, and it has been great to have her facilitate our messaging through the app all week. I highly recommend Cassandra. She’s skilled, supportive, and down-to-earth. We feel totally comfortable with her.”

Takeaway

Love can come in many forms and mean different things to different people. In relationships, love can be a binding phenomenon, helping partners deepen their connection and grow together. If you’d like help fostering love in your relationship, consider reaching out to a licensed therapist online. You and your partner deserve the strong bond that can come from a loving relationship.  

Is the definition of love about liking or feeling romantically or sexually attracted to another person? Here’s the true meaning of love and what it really is outside its dictionary definition.

Love is a tough word to explain, and the meaning of love? That just gets more complex and simple at the same time!

In the words of Foreigner back in 1984 *ask your parents*, “I want to know what love is, I want you to show me.” Yes, a band of men with very bad hair sang those exact words. Even now, all these years later, we’re still asking ourselves what the true definition of love is.

What does it actually look and feel like? Yes, there is a definition of love in the dictionary. If you’re going to look it up, love is defined as “a strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship” or that it is “a strong, usually passionate, affection of one person for another, based in part on sexual attraction.” But these are not really enough to explain the overwhelming flood of emotions that we feel, is it?

What is the true meaning of love? And why does everyone define it differently? Honestly though, the reason? Love can be defined in many ways because it’s different for every single person who experiences it. 

[Read: Is it love? How to recognize true love when it comes your way]

What is the true meaning of love, and what does love mean?

Explaining love is like trying to explain why water is wet – it just is!

There are various kinds of love – romantic love which usually includes an intense feeling of deep affection and involves intimacy, lust, and sexual attraction; family love which arises from kinship and parental love; friendship love which is a platonic love felt by one person for another; and love you have for the things you do.

Every single type and feeling of love is valid and real for you. As they say, love is love.

It’s entirely possible that you experience and define love in a different way from someone else in your life. We’re all unique, and that means we recognize, experience, and feel love and affection for another person, be it from the same or opposite sex, in slightly different ways too.

[Read: 23 facts about love that will definitely blow your mind]

However, there is some common ground at least. The true meaning of love is quite blurry, but many people put it down as:

1. The ability to understand and accept another person as they are, completely.

2. Wanting the very best for a person and helping them to be the best version of themselves they can be.

3. If it came down to it, you’d sacrifice your own happiness for theirs.

4. Wanting to build a future with that person. 

5. Seeing the good and bad parts of someone and loving them anyway.

6. A deep connection and a feeling of being whole. 

[Read: 15 traits of selfless love that sets it apart from selfish love]

As you can see, the true meaning of love is wide-ranging, and you might have a different idea of what it is to you.

For most people, however, the above statements ring true. You want the best for that person and hate to see them struggling or suffering, and you’d sacrifice your own happiness to ensure that they’re smiling.  

Love in all its types has these definitions, whether we’re talking about family, friends, or romantic love. When people fall in love with a person or thing, we want it in our lives and become attached to it, to the point where being without it is painful and impossible to endure.

[Read: What is true love? The signs of love to know if your love is real]

What does love feel like? Is it even real?

Is love real? Yes. However, as mentioned, love is different for everyone. It’s possible that you’ve never experienced that completely “sweep you off your feet” type of love. You might never, or it might be just around the corner, but you will experience your own version of love in a way that’s right for you. 

The true meaning of love isn’t about Hollywood depictions. It might not come into your life, knock you down to the ground, and swing you around several times.

Maybe it’s more of a calm and gentle feeling for you, but it doesn’t mean it’s any less worthwhile or any less meaningful. 

What does love feel like? Again, it depends on the person! For some, love feels comfortable and warm. It’s like going home, it feels safe. However, for others, love can be dramatic, overwhelming, and at times leave you unable to breathe.

This latter type of love can potentially lead to toxicity, especially if such strong and passionate emotions aren’t reciprocated. Thus, love can have both positive and negative effects as different people have different ways of how they practice love.

[Read: The signs you could be wasting your time in a one-sided relationship]

Can you see there are different definitions of love, depending upon the circumstances?

The true definition of love is when two people are aligned. That’s when the rollercoaster of emotions stops, and everything becomes still and cozy. When that happens, many people falsely believe that they’re falling out of love or that passion and deep affection have left. That’s Hollywood’s fault.

True love doesn’t have us feeling sick every day, wondering what’s going to happen. It doesn’t mean constant arguments and screaming at each other. It’s not about being unable to eat over the long term because you’ve always got butterflies. 

We’re told that we should always go for butterflies because that means it’s special, but those butterflies don’t last beyond the infatuation stage.

When love takes over, the butterflies actually feel like their work is done. That’s probably a very good true definition of love – when the butterflies settle down, and contentment takes over.

[Read: Infatuation vs love and how you can tell the difference]

Love feels comfortable, but it also feels like you would do anything to protect that person. In many ways, that’s what it means to love someone.

It means that you would sacrifice yourself in some way to ensure their happiness, health, and safety. It means that while you don’t stop doing the things you enjoy or dedicate your entire life to that person, you want them to become the very best version of themselves that they can be.

It’s easy to be taken over by love, allowing it to swallow you whole and put your own wants and needs to one side.

But it’s important to remember that you’re just as important as the person you love. If it is not an unrequited love situation and the love is reciprocal, they’ll probably be doing all they can to ensure your needs are met anyway— loyalty, attention, security, and all the other good words related to love that you could possibly think of. Keep that balance – you’re just as important! [Read: What you should know before your first relationship to love way better]

The strongest signs that define the meaning of love in a relationship

Now we’ve debated what the true meaning of love is and know that it’s a very blurry subject to pinpoint. How can you tell that you’re actually in love?

There’s no firework-laden moment when it happens, and sometimes it actually creeps into your life without you even noticing it until a few months or even years later. Let’s look at some signs that you might actually be in love. 

1. They’re the ones who make you feel better

If something happens to you, or you just have a bad day, they’re the ones who make you feel better and bring a smile to your face like no one else can. [Read: Puppy love to real love – 15 signs you’ve graduated to true love in your relationship]

2. You value their opinion

Even for something as simple as wanting to know if your outfit looks good, you value their opinion over everyone else’s. Although, remember that your own opinion is just as important too! 

3. When they’re ill or upset, your heart literally aches

The real meaning of love is true and complete empathy. If you see your love in any kind of pain, it’s almost too much for you to bear. Your ultimate goal would automatically be taking their pain and upset away, even if you know that you can’t. That’s probably the true definition of love right there. 

4. You’re their biggest supporter

Whatever they do in life, you’re their biggest cheerleader, and want them to succeed beyond everything else. It makes you feel proud of them whenever they do well.

It’s a pure example of love when, as Rabbi David Wolpe said, “it is when one person believes in another person and shows it,” and that it “is a feeling that expresses itself in action.” Having a supportive mate can make one feel confident. [Read: Very powerful but small gestures that show love in a very big way]

5. When you’re with them, you feel your best

You’re happier, lighter on your feet, smile more, and generally feel your best when you’re around them. They take away your worries and help you to feel content. It’s not even just about sexual activity, but you genuinely just want their presence and company.

6. If you’re away from them, you don’t feel right

While it’s normal to be away from your partner in some situations, if you are away from them for any length of time, you feel like something is missing, and it doesn’t right itself until you’re reunited.  

7. You know that you would do anything for them

The term “anything” should be taken with a pinch of salt here, but if asked to do something, you would consider it.

Of course, it depends on what that thing is, but you would move heaven and earth if you could – sometimes without them even asking you to. That’s just what unconditional love is. [Read: How to prove that you love someone the right way]

8. You see your future with them

The meaning of love is when you see them in your whole future. When you look forward, you see them in your life and see the two of you together, building a life. That future doesn’t have to be the traditional type, but if they’re in the vision you have, that’s a good sign. 

9. You feel upbeat and more positive

When you’re with them, you just feel happy and behave positively. They inject a sense of happiness and joy into your day, and it’s a great feeling to have. 

10. You’re not going through emotional rollercoasters all the time

Don’t worry if the ups and downs slowly ebb away. This is normal! It means you’ve moved past the “not being sure where you stand” stage. You’re now in love, happy, and content.

Of course, love can still make people crazy occasionally— either with euphoria or jealousy, but this shouldn’t be the overriding theme. [Read: The 9 stages of love all couples have to go through]

11. Despite all of this, you fear losing them

Despite feeling calm and comfortable, you still have a slight worry in the pit of your stomach that one day this will all end, and they’ll be taken away from you.

Again, this is normal when your emotions are so strongly invested in another person. Push that worry aside and focus on the life you’re building together.

[Read: How to overcome the fear of losing someone you love]

Now that you know the meaning of love, do you think you’re in true love? How does it feel for you? The true definition of love differs for every single person. But for those who experience love in any guise, it’s a special thing indeed. 

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

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

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

Haikal, 12, Romantic, Adventurous

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

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

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

Joseph, 21, Withdrawn Over-Thinker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am in love with my girlfriend.

Kirsty, 23, Secretly Sentimental

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

Luke, 21, Avocado Enthusiast

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

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

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

Sarah, 14, Open-Minded and Exciting

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sharvin, 19, Dog Lover

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

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

Marina, 20, Classic and Eclectic

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

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

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

Featured photo credit: Susanne Nilsson via flickr.com

Love. When you read or hear this word, what comes to mind? And most importantly how would you express this emotion of love? Is it by having dinner under a starlit sky or by serenading your loved one with a song or is it by buying something exquisite and expensive?

Aha! And before you answer, do remember not to confuse infatuation with love. Let me try to decipher “what is love” with an incident I experienced recently.

Love musings

Visualize this true incident to understand what is love.

Recently a visit to a friend’s place prompted me to think about the emotion of love. If you are wondering, what the trigger was, it was the husband’s remark while seeing me off at the door.

He said, “I realized today, the effort and the care my wife takes to keep the home and hearth happy and healthy”.

To give you a clearer picture as to why the husband was uncharacteristically more communicative than usual, is that, his wife had suddenly suffered a cerebral stroke a few weeks back. She was finally back home from the hospital after a long and painful stint.

It was during this time, the husband handled the entire home front single-handily, which also included keeping the spirits of his two young children pepped up, since they were undergoing their assessments for their term ends at school.

While the words said by my friend’s husband may not sound very extraordinary to an average listener, they took me by surprise, because the husband is a reticent and private man and not very effusive.

The words, the emotion in his voice, conveyed the love and care he felt for his wife, much more than perhaps the oft used words of endearment.

Love – Just a four letter word?

It is much more than just a word, though in today’s times it’s so loosely used for every possible situation. In the consumerist society we live in, gifting—especially expensive gifts—are popular expressions of love.

But love is much more than expensive gifts. So what is love? Personally, I would say it is a commitment to be together through the different hues of the life. Now, this may sound like a long drawn-out affair and almost binding in nature, but then that is what love is.

To explain what is love George Nathan has rightly said, Love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few.

It is difficult to define love, due to the various cultural connotations. More often than not, the term love refers to the feeling of warm personal attachment.

Love is faith

Love being equated with commitment might sound like an anathema. In our current fast-paced society, if a relationship does not work, most people are advised to abandon ship and look for greener pastures. In such a situation, equating love with dependability is akin to hara-kiri.

Not that one should stay in an abusive relationship or in a relationship which does not bring happiness at all.

But having said that, it is a matter of commitment. Love sometimes means we just let things go that frustrate us, and then on top of that we sometimes still have to take the extra effort to nurture and re-nourish the relationship.

Read more at – Tips to keep your relationship alive

Conclusion – What is love

Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet says it best when it comes to explaining “what is love.”

You know what love is? It is all kindness, generosity. Disharmony prevails when you confuse lust with love, while the distance between the two is endless.

Today, we have lost some of this beauty due to our heavy usage of electronic communication, the increasing use of slang and colloquialisms in modern poetry and literature, and the decline of grammar education in schools. Some words have been lost altogether, while others remain but have lost their true meaning through misuse or overuse. 

One of the greatest casualties of this decline is the word “love” which is now used to both profess one’s deepest sentiments for another person and to express a fondness for fried chicken. The word has become immensely overused and, as a result, no longer carries with it the gravity that it once did. It has even led to our inability to understand love itself. 

The Four Types of Love

While English has just one word for love, there are, in fact, four types of love. The great author C.S. Lewis wrote The Four Loves, detailing the nature of each type. 

Storge, or affection, is derived from the Greek word “philostorgos,” which means “tenderly loving.” This love speaks of devotion to your kindred. It’s strong, loyal, and natural. Lewis describes this love as a humble one. The bond between siblings, a child and her mother, and even a man and his dog is storge love. 

Affection is a natural, domestic love.

Philia, or friendship, was seen by the ancient Greeks as the happiest and most human love. Today, we fail to regard friendship with the same reverence — something which Lewis greatly laments. He describes philia as the bond between those who share the same interests and aims. It’s not a self-absorbed love and it’s certainly not necessary — which is what makes it so beautiful. “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival,” he writes. 

Eros, or romance, refers to the «falling in love» feeling that occurs between a man and a woman. The term originates from the Greek god of love, Eros (whose Roman equivalent is Cupid). Eros love transcends pure carnal passion and is, instead, deeper and more selfless. Nevertheless, this type of love is still far from perfect. Lewis describes how this love can tend towards evil just as easily as it tends towards good. It can result in beauty and harmony within a marriage or decline into idolatry of another person. 

 Eros can result in beauty and harmony within a marriage or decline into idolatry of another person. 

Agape, or charity, is unconditional love. It’s completely self-sacrificial. It’s purposeful and chooses the good of the other despite flaws, offenses, and even a lack of love on their part. It’s perfect — the very height of Love. Lewis identifies God as the perfect example of agape love and asserts that it’s a great virtue for which we should continuously strive. 

We Have Forgotten What Love Is

So, the word that we have so dumbed down is actually an extremely complex and loaded term. It denotes many deep emotions and sentiments and ultimately points to the highest aim of humanity. 

In the way we casually toss “love” at trivial things such as clothing brands, television shows, and edible indulgences, we have created a culture that confuses pleasure for love. There’s a real difference between liking and loving. Love isn’t just an intense liking. 

It’s not just a flutter in your heart, a fleeting feeling, or physical passion. It’s not what we feel when we sip a Starbucks latte. It’s not what we feel when we see an attractive actor on screen. It’s not what we feel when a charming date attempts to flirt his way into the bedroom. 

Love is a surge of the will, a desire to do good for another.

Love is a surge of the will, a desire to do good for another, a sacrificing of your selfishness for the purpose of the other. It involves action — not just feeling. 

For example, storge love is a mother comforting her crying child. Filial love is a friend spending her Saturday helping another haul boxes into a new apartment. Erotic love is a man and a woman vowing to stay together in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. Agape love is a passerby stopping to give money to a beggar because she sees that he, too, has great worth and dignity. 

Love is selfless. It’s sacrificial. It’s sometimes difficult. But it’s the most noble, beautiful, and awe-inspiring aspect of humanity. And it’s what we created for. 

Closing Thoughts

 It’s important that we speak with conviction so that we can act with conviction. We have to choose our words purposefully, understanding that they carry great importance. With this in mind, it’s time that we reclaim the word “love” and save it for those actions, those bonds, those movements of the heart that really show what it means to love. In doing so, we can reclaim love itself.

Readers make the world go round. Make your voice heard in the official Evie reader survey.

«Love looks like doing the dishes. I’m an ‘Acts of Service’ person and I hate doing the dishes, so my husband has taken it upon himself to never let a dirty plate fester in the sink. It’s selfless and humble and deeply loving, and I’m thankful he takes pains to show me love in the language I hear it.» — Skye Sherman, 25, She/Her, Heterosexual, Married

Love Makes Room For Change and Growth

«Feeling safe to be a true, authentic person. Having room for individual and shared passions. Knowing when everything else gets stripped away, your partner will still hold you close.» — Joy Overbrook, 30, She/Her, Pansexual, Married

«Love is when I am challenged, seen, excited, amused, provoked into thought, and most of all, safe. When someone wants to know me and remains curious and thoughtful. When I continue to be supported and support another, throughout healthy changes.» — Kate, 27, She/Her, Bisexual, Married

«Love is having total acceptance and the ability to trust and openly communicate, without the fear of judgment or rejection. That shouldn’t just apply to romantic love but also to love among family and friends.» — Rho Rho, 94, She/Her, Widowed

«Freedom is essential to love. Without the ability to be yourself and express the quirky, dark beautiful sides of your nature, love suffocates and quickly evaporates.» — Lilly Harlow, 37, She/Her, Straight, Committed Relationship

«Love is looking at someone and knowing that who they are today definitely won’t be who you see tomorrow, or the next day, or 10 years from now, and loving them for that reason alone. To love, we have to embrace the fact that who we first became attracted to can, will, and should change. The best part of love is watching it grow in new ways as each person evolves and maturing your love language along the way.» — Wandy Felicita Ortiz, 23, She/Her, Heterosexual, In a Relationship

Love Is Sharing Food

«Love is knowing that, for the first time in your life, you don’t have to apologize for feeling everything at once. Love is beginning to heal from past trauma and learning that being hurt is not a required part of the relationship package. Love is also guava and cheese pastelitos.» — Ashley, 24, She/Her, Pansexual, In a Relationship

Getty Images / Allure: Rosemary Donahue

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.