Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa, Veracruz, MexicoĪbstractly discussed, love usually refers to a feeling one person experiences for another person.

(Further possible ambiguities come with usages like 'girlfriend', 'boyfriend' and 'just good friends'.)įraternal love (Prehispanic sculpture from 250 to 900 CE, of Huastec origin). As an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships or platonic love. As a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust. Love, as a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy). Īlthough the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what is not love (antonyms of 'love').

Cultural differences in conceptualizing love make it difficult to establish a universal definition. Many other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that in English are denoted as 'love' one example is the plurality of Greek concepts for 'love' ( agape, eros, philia, storge). The word 'love' can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. 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 has additional religious or spiritual meaning. The triangular theory of love suggests intimacy, passion, and commitment are core components of love. The color wheel theory of love defines three primary, three secondary, and nine tertiary love styles, describing them in terms of the traditional color wheel. Numerous cultures have also distinguished Ren, Yuanfen, Mamihlapinatapai, Cafuné, Kama, Bhakti, Mettā, Ishq, Chesed, Amore, Charity, Saudade (and other variants or symbioses of these states), as culturally unique words, definitions, or expressions of love in regard to specified 'moments' currently lacking in the English language. Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of love: unrequited love, empty love, companionate love, consummate love, infatuated love, self-love, and courtly love.

Īncient Greek philosophers identified six forms of love: familial love ( storge), friendly love or platonic love ( philia), romantic love ( eros), self-love ( philautia), guest love ( xenia), and divine or unconditional love ( agape). Love has been postulated to be a function that keeps human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.

In its various forms, love 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. It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, oneself, or animals. Love is considered to be both positive and negative, with its virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection-'the unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another'-and its vice representing a human moral flaw akin to vanity, selfishness, amour-propre, and egotism, potentially leading people into a type of mania, obsessiveness, or codependency. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment. An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse, which differs from the love for food. Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols. This article contains special characters.

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