lover

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See also: løver and Lover

English

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Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

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  • lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lover (plural lovers)

  1. One who loves and cares for another person in a romantic way; a sweetheart, love, soulmate, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse.
    Synonyms: love, love interest, spouse, sweetheart, significant other; see also Thesaurus:lover
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi], page 170, column 2:
      [] loue is blinde, and louers cannot ſee / The pretty follies that themſelues commit, []
    • 1976, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “Song For Sharon”, in Hejira:
      Well there's a wide wide world of noble causes / And lovely landscapes to discover / But all I really want to do right now / Is find another lover
    • 2014 September 23, Elle King, Dave Bassett, “Ex's & Oh's”, in Love Stuff[1], performed by Elle King:
      Now, there's one in California who's been cursing my name / 'Cause I found me a better lover in the UK, hey, hey / Until I made my getaway
    • 2016, David Boulter, Stuart A. Staples (lyrics and music), “Like Only Lovers Can”, in The Waiting Room, performed by Tindersticks:
      We can only hurt each other the way that lovers can / So where do we go, where do we hide now?
  2. A sexual partner, especially one with whom someone is having an affair.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sexual partner
    • 2006, Peifer Yann, Reuter Manuel (lyrics and music), “Bad Boy”, in Everytime We Touch, performed by Cascada, →OCLC:
      Be my bad boy, be my man / Be my weekend lover, but don't be my friend / You can be my bad boy, but understand / That I don't need you in my life again
    • 2018 January 17, "Libra Woman: Personality Traits: Love & More", Astrology.com [2]
      A Libra woman seems to always be in love - either with her long term partner or with an ever-changing series of rotating lovers.
  3. A person who loves something.
    Synonym: connoisseur
    a lover of fine wines
    a lover of his/her own country
  4. (West Country, with "my") An informal term of address for any friend.
    All right, me lover?
Usage notes
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  • In the 1980s and 1990s, the term "lover" was commonly used for a long-term committed romantic partner, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community. Subsequently, this usage has become less common, usually in favour of partner.
Derived terms
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Compound words and expressions
Descendants
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  • German: Lover
Translations
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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lover (plural lovers)

  1. Obsolete form of louver.

Anagrams

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Dutch

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch lover, originally the plural of loof. As with other words with plurals in -er, eventually this was substituted with -eren, creating loveren. This new plural was then reanalysed as a separate noun and a new singular form lover was back-formed from it.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje n)

  1. foliage

Synonyms

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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A 17th century borrowing from North Sea Germanic language verb "lofen, lufen". The 1986 Dictionnaire de l'Académie française identifies the source as Low German (Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German); Jan de Vries' Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek (which identifies it as a possible cognate of Dutch leuver) suggests East Frisian instead.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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lover

  1. to coil (a rope or cord), to fake a line
  2. (reflexive) to coil up, wind up; to curl up
    • 2019, Alain Damasio, chapter 2, in Les furtifs [The Stealthies], La Volte, →ISBN:
      Happant du linge et courbant le matelas, j’y ai rapidement fait mon nid et je me suis lové en boule à l’intérieur.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  3. (reflexive) to snuggle up to, to snuggle up against

Conjugation

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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

Noun

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lover (plural lovers)

  1. louver (type of turret)
Descendants
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References
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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lover

  1. Alternative form of lovere (friend, lover)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Noun

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lover m pl

  1. indefinite masculine plural of lov

Verb

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lover

  1. present tense of love

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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lover f pl

  1. indefinite feminine plural of lov

Etymology 2

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Verb

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lover

  1. present of lova