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For other uses, see Love (disambiguation).

Archetypal lovers Romeo and Juliet portrayed by Frank Dicksee
Love is an emotion of a strong affection and personal attachment.[1] Love is also said to be a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection —"the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another".[2] Love may describecompassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals. [3]
In English, love refers to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from pleasure ("I loved that meal") to interpersonal attraction ("I love my partner"). "Love" may refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to the sexual love of eros, to the emotionalcloseness of familial love, to the platonic love that defines friendship,[4] or to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love[5], or to a concept of love that encompasses all of those feelings. 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.
Love in its variousforms 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.[6]
Love may be understood as part of the survival instinct, a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.[7]
Contents[hide] * 1 Definitions * 2 Impersonal love* 3 Interpersonal love * 3.1 Biological basis * 3.2 Psychological basis * 3.3 Evolutionary basis * 3.4 Comparison of scientific models * 4 Cultural views * 4.1 Ancient Greek * 4.2 Ancient Roman (Latin) * 4.3 Chinese and other Sinic cultures * 4.4 Persian * 4.5 Japanese * 4.6 Turkish (Shaman and Islamic) * 5 Religious views * 5.1Abrahamic religions * 5.1.1 Christianity * 5.1.2 Judaism * 5.1.3 Islam * 5.2 Eastern religions * 5.2.1 Buddhism * 5.2.2 Hinduism * 6 Political views * 6.1 Free love * 7 Philosophical views * 8 References * 9 Sources * 10 External links |
Definitions
Part of a series on |
Love |
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Basic aspects[show] * Charity * Human bonding *Biological basis * Religious views * Philosophy of love |
Historically[show] * Courtly love * Free love |
Types of emotion[show] * Eroticism * Platonic love * Familial love * Romance |
See also[show] * Puppy love * Limerence * Lovesickness * Love addiction * Human sexuality * Unrequited love * Valentine's Day * Sexual intercourse * Interpersonal relationship* Falling in love |
* v * t * e |
The word "love" can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Often, other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that English relies mainly on "love" to encapsulate; one example is the plurality of Greek words for "love." Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus make it doublydifficult to establish any universal definition.[8]
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. As a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romanticattachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships.

Fraternal love (Prehispanic sculpture from 250–900 A.D., of Huastec origin). Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
When discussed in the abstract, love usually...