# lover
## English
### Etymology 1

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

#### Alternative forms

* lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)

#### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˈlʌvɚ/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈlʌvə/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: lov‧er
* Rhymes: -ʌvə(ɹ)

#### Noun

lover (plural lovers)
* 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
** 1980, Shalamar (lyrics and music), “This Is For The Lover In You”, in Three For Love:This is for the lover in you (take this ring) / This ring (It means I'll always be true) / This is (how we'll start love anew) This time (were gonna last forever)
** 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?
* 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.
* 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.
* (West Country, with "my") An informal term of address for any friend.
    All right, me lover?

##### 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

* birdlover
* boylover
* catlover
* childlover
* cyberlover
* doglover
* girllover
* homolover
* loverboy
* loverdom
* lovered
* loveress
* lovergirl
* loverhood
* loverless
* loverlike
* loverly
* loverman
* loverwise
* manlover
* motherlover
* nonlover
* womanlover
* alright me lover / alright my lover
* Bambi lover
* book lover, booklover
* butt lover
* diaper lover
* free lover
* fun-lover
* land-lover
* Latin lover
* lover boy
* lover man, lover-man
* lover's lane, lovers' lane
* mountain lover
* nature lover, nature-lover
* nigger lover, nigger-lover
* word-lover

##### Descendants

* → German: Lover

##### Translations
### Etymology 2
#### Noun

lover (plural lovers)
* 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: /ˈloː.vər/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: lo‧ver
* Rhymes: -oːvər

### Noun

lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje n)
* 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: /lɔ.ve/
* Audio:(file)

### Verb

lover
* to coil (a rope or cord), to fake a line
* (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)
* (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: /luˈveːr/, /ˈluvər/, /loːˈveːr/, /ˈloːvər/

#### Noun

lover (plural lovers)
* 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
* Alternative form of lovere (“friend, lover”)

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Noun

lover m pl
* indefinite masculine plural of lov

### Verb

lover
* present tense of love

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology 1
#### Alternative forms

* lovar m pl

#### Noun

lover f pl
* indefinite feminine plural of lov

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

lover
* present of lova