It is important to know whether the expressed love is for a person, an object, an event, or for a purely abstract element such as God. Knowing this will automatically generate a different feeling for the recipient or the listener. For instance, when a man expresses love for a woman, the listener draws a different meaning than when that person expresses love for a career, i.e. “I love my job”. Whatever the form, love is nevertheless an emotion, stronger than 'like', with various degrees. Passionate, pure, or Platonic love towards a person has an absolutely different meaning than saying 'love to see you then' when confirming an appointment.
Definition of love according to Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English lufu; akin to Old High German luba love, Old English leof dear, Latin lubere, libere to please
Date: before 12th century
1 a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
2 : warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion
3 a : the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration
4 a : unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another: as (1) : the fatherly concern of God for humankind (2) : brotherly concern for others b : a person's adoration of God
5 : a god or personification of love
6 : an amorous episode : love affair
7 : the sexual embrace : copulation
8 : a score of zero (as in tennis)
9 capitalized Christian Science : god
These nine definitions can be used differently in English speaking cultures as well as in different situations. The same word can have different meanings in other cultures as well. Love in other languages, according to Goggle translate:
Afrikaans: liefde/ Estonian: armastus/ Dutch: Liefhebben/ Maltese: imhabba/ Spanish: amor
Albanian: dashuria/ Filipino: pagmamahal/ Indonesian: cinta/ Norwigian: Kjaerlighet/ Swahili: upendo
Arabic: hobb/ Finish: rakastaa/ Irish: gra/ Persian: Eshgh/ Swedish: karlek
Belarusian: lyubou/ French: aimer/ Italian: amore/ Polish: milosc/ Thai: rak
Bulgarian: obicham/ Galician: amor/ Japanese: ai/ Portuguese: amor/ Turkish: sevmek
Catalan: amor/ German: liebe/ Korean: salang/ Romanian: iubire/ Ukrainian: lyubov
Chinese: ai/ Greek: agapi/ Latvian: milestiba/ Russian: lyubov/ Vietnamese: yeu
Croatian: ljubav/ Hindi: pyara/ Lithuanian: meile/ Serbian: voleti/ Welsh: cariad
Czech: laska/ Hungarian: Szerelem/ Macedonian: ljubov/ Slovak: laska/ Yiddish: libe
Danish: kaerlighed/ Icelandic: elska/ Malay: cinta/ Slovenian: ljubezen
Description of love in Wikipedia:
Love is any of a number of emotions related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my husband"). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states. As an abstract concept, love usually refers to a deep, ineffable feeling of tenderly caring for another person. Even this limited conception of love, however, encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love to the non-sexual emotional closeness of familial and platonic love to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love. Love in its various forms 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.The English 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 doubly difficult to establish any universal definition. 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 romantic attachment, love iscommonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is commonly contrasted with friendship, although other definitions of the word love may be applied to close friendships in certain contexts. When discussed in the abstract, love usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience felt by a person for another person. Love often involves caring for or identifying with a person or thing, including oneself (cf. Narcissism).
According to the above discriptions and definitions, we realize that the word love can be used in many different situations and for several reasons, all will however represent various forms of emotions. When emotion steps in, wisdom steps out, as in any other emotions, such as anger, hate, resentment, guilt,.... If it numbs the wisdom to have a strong emotion, wouldn't it be better for the mankind in general if this emotion is love, rather than those negative emotions mentioned? The most positive emotion, love, should be encouraged and repeatedly used. In some cultures (Middle Eastern for instance) expression of love towards a person is discouraged. In such cultures, love of another (more or less opposite) gender has a close relationship with sex, and since sex is considered a private matter, expression of love is forbidden (or down played) as well. However it has always been demonstrated that in the absence of love, negative emotions such as hate, vengence, and retaliation are prevalent. Those who encourage peace, tranqulity, and attoinment use love as a tool to spread their ideas. We are naturally and historically in pursuit of love and peace, and we envision happiness through love for each other. We are born with unconditional love for our parents, rather than other emotions. Considering childern's innocence, it seems like love to be the most authentic form of emotion. It is also believed that loving is genetic, versus hate and other forms of emotions that are acquired through time. As we excel as mankind and naturally in the process pursue humanity by creating an environment of peace, expression of love becoms essential. Showing one's love is always a sign of maturity, whether this love is towards a human being, an animal, or an object.
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