lover

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

• lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlʌvɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈlʌvə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lov‧er
• Rhymes: -ʌvə(ɹ)

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, 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

     A Libra woman seems to always be in love - either with her long term partner or with an ever-changing series of rotating lovers.

3. A person who loves something.

   Synonym: connoisseur

   a lover of fine wines

   a lover of his/her own country

   • 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XVIII.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC, page 279:

     But though a conscientious disciplinarian he was no lover of authority for mere authority's sake.

4. (West Country, with "my") An informal term of address for any friend.

   All right, me lover?

• 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.

• → German: Lover

lover (plural lovers)

1. Obsolete form of louver.

• Vlorë

• loover (obsolete)

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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈloː.vər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lo‧ver
• Rhymes: -oːvər

lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje n)

1. foliage

• gebladerte
• lommer

• vloer

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.

• IPA^(key): /lɔ.ve/

• Audio

  (file)

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

• “lover”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• voler

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

• lovere, lowere, lovyre

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

lover (plural lovers)

1. louver (type of turret)

• English: louver, louvre, luffer
• Middle Scots: lewar

• “lǒver(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

lover

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

lover m pl

1. indefinite masculine plural of lov

lover

1. present tense of love

• lovar m pl

lover f pl

1. indefinite feminine plural of lov

lover

1. present of lova