lovable

English

Alternative forms

• loveable

Etymology

From Middle English lovable, loveable, luffeabill, lufabul, equivalent to love +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlʌvəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

lovable (comparative more lovable, superlative most lovable)

1. Inspiring or deserving love or affection; adorable or cute.

Translations

inspiring love

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: обичен (bg) (običen), симпатичен (bg) (simpatičen) Catalan: amable (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 可愛／可爱 (zh) (kě'ài) Czech: líbezný (cs) Danish: elskverdig Dutch: beminnelijk (nl) Esperanto: aminda Finnish: rakastettava (fi), herttainen (fi) French: aimable (fr), adorable (fr) Galician: amable (gl) German: liebenswert (de), reizend (de) Greek: αξιαγάπητος (el) (axiagápitos) Hindi: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: szerethető, szeretetre méltó, szeretni való, (cute, nice) kedves (hu), aranyos (hu) Irish: grámhar Italian: adorabile (it), amabile (it) Japanese: 愛らしい (ja) (airashii) Latin: amābilis (la) Maori: mateoha Middle English: lovable, lovesom Persian: please add this translation if you can Plautdietsch: leeftolich Portuguese: amável (pt) Russian: ми́лый (ru) (mílyj) Spanish: adorable (es), amable (es) Swedish: älskvärd (sv) Turkish: sevilen (tr) Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: đáng yêu (vi), dễ thương (vi)

Middle English

Etymology 1

From loven (“to love”) +‎ -able.

Alternative forms

• loveable
• lufabul, luff-able, luffeabill (Northern)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /luˈvaːblə/, /luˈvaːbəl/

Adjective

lovable

1. Lovable (deserving love)

   Synonym: lovesom

2. Friendly, affectionate (providing love)

   Synonyms: lovely, lovesom

Descendants

• English: lovable, loveable

References

• “lǒvāble, adj.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From loven (“to praise”) +‎ -able.

Alternative forms

• loveable, lovabille
• lovabil, lovabile (Northern)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔːˈvaːblə/, /lɔːˈvaːbəl/
• (influenced by Etymology 1) IPA^(key): /luˈvaːblə/, /luˈvaːbəl/

Adjective

lovable

1. praiseworthy, commendable, excellent
2. nonharmful, healthful

Descendants

• Middle Scots: loveabill

References

• “lǒvāble, adj.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.