Twenty-First Century Love
Love is the only word communicable to express the indescribable feelings we have for our significant other, friends, and family. After my teenage years and many girlfriends later, I have learned there are several meanings of our twenty-first century love. The ideology of love has changed. The bible verse I Corinthians 13:4-8, best describes love. Love has now become a way to express many things and is no longer sacred with lack of its true meaning thereof. To me, love is a sacred four letter word that you only say to kin or someone with personal ties, to express your deep commitment, feelings, and emotional attachment to them. I love the idea of exploring its twenty-first century meanings, where the word love comes from, and it’s thought-terminating clichés.
The word love dates back to before the twelfth century and was adopted by the Middle English from the Old English word lufu. It is akin to the Germanic lubo or love, which comes from Indo-European leubh and is cognate with Old Frisian luve, Old High German luba, and Gothic ‘(brotherly) love’. The Romans used it as an affectionate, romantic, or sexual sense. The Christian understanding is that love comes from God. However, the understanding and ideas of love have changed over time.
The dictionary provides several current definitions of the word love. It is first described as strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. One might relate this to a mother loving her children. It also describes love as being an
attraction based on sexual desire or the affection and tenderness felt by lovers. A more twenty-first century approach is one saying they have a love of the lake. This is described as a warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion to something. This is similar to one saying they love the Texas Longhorns but notice the object of attachment that separates the two. Love also can be used as a verb or noun. An...