Word Love Essay

Love is perhaps the most widely used but also most ambiguous words in the English language. In modern culture, it penetrates almost every corner of public and private life, yet if one were to ask its meaning of even three different people, there would likely be discontinuity between the answers. While it is possible to define the word “love” based on its grammatical operation, to understand its full meaning or lack thereof, deeper examination is required. Love is used both as a noun and a verb in modern English, yielding several subcategories such as action, feeling, or even person. By analyzing each of the different applications of the word “love,” one can come to a clearer understanding of what it means and how it can be applied in everyday life.

To “love” someone can mean to care deeply about them. To the same degree, it can mean that one admires, exhorts, or holds in high esteem another person. Love for one 's pet and love for one 's spouse are understood to be two very different kinds of love, yet in English the same word is used for both. C.S. Lewis revealed four different kinds of love in his book “The Four Loves” in 1960, however modern sociology and political professor at Cambridge, Roman Krznaric, goes even further, identifying six words for “love” as used by the ancient Greeks. In his book, How Should We Live, Krznaric traces the English word back to its Greek origins, reproducing “Agape,” “Eros,” “Ludus,” “Philautia,” “Philia,” and “Pragma” loves, each with its unique operation (“The Ancient Greeks '...”). The statement “I love you” is interpreted multiple ways in modern speech, but which love is it? Is it the casual love of Ludus, the sexual love of Eros, or the unconditional love of Agape? The fluidity of modern English translation has made the distinction harder and harder to