lover

English Online Dictionary. What means lover‎? What does lover mean?

English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlʌvɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈlʌvə/
• Hyphenation: lov‧er
• Rhymes: -ʌvə(ɹ)

Noun

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
2. A sexual partner, especially one with whom someone is having an affair.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sexual partner

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

Usage notes

• 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

Descendants

• → German: Lover

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

lover (plural lovers)

1. Obsolete form of louver.

Anagrams

• Vlorë

Dutch

Alternative forms

• loover (obsolete)

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈloː.vər/
• Hyphenation: lo‧ver
• Rhymes: -oːvər

Noun

lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje n)

1. foliage

Synonyms

• gebladerte
• lommer

Anagrams

• vloer

French

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /lɔ.ve/

Verb

lover

1. to coil (a rope or cord), to fake a line
2. (reflexive) to coil up, wind up; to curl up
3. (reflexive) to snuggle up to, to snuggle up against

Conjugation

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• voler

Middle English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• lovere, lowere, lovyre

Pronunciation

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

Noun

lover (plural lovers)

1. louver (type of turret)

Descendants

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

References

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

Etymology 2

Noun

lover

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

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

lover m pl

1. indefinite masculine plural of lov

Verb

lover

1. present tense of love

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• lovar m pl

Noun

lover f pl

1. indefinite feminine plural of lov

Etymology 2

Verb

lover

1. present of lova