different between lover vs favourite

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English lovere, luffer, lufere, equivalent to love +? -er.

Alternative forms

• lovyer (dialectal or obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?l?v?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?l?v?/
• Hyphenation: lov?er
• Rhymes: -?v?(?)

Noun

lover (plural lovers)

1. One who loves and cares for another person in a romantic way; a sweetheart, love, soulmate, boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse.

   Synonyms: love, love interest, spouse, sweetheart, significant other; see also Thesaurus:lover
2. A sexual partner, especially one with whom someone is having an affair.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sexual partner

   • 2018 January 17, "Libra Woman: Personality Traits: Love & More", Astrology.com [1]

     A Libra woman seems to always be in love - either with her long term partner or with an ever-changing series of rotating lovers.

3. A person who loves something.

   Synonym: connoisseur
4. (West Country, with "my") An informal term of address for any friend.

Derived terms

• book lover, booklover
• Latin lover
• loverhood
• lover's lane / lovers' lane

Descendants

• ? German: Lover

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

lover (plural lovers)

1. Obsolete form of louver.

Anagrams

• Vlorë

Dutch

Alternative forms

• loover (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch lover, originally the plural of loof. As with other words with plurals in -er, eventually this was substituted with -eren, creating loveren. This new plural was then reanalysed as a separate noun and a new singular form lover was back-formed from it.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lo?.v?r/
• Hyphenation: lo?ver
• Rhymes: -o?v?r

Noun

lover n (plural lovers, diminutive lovertje n)

1. foliage

Synonyms

• gebladerte
• lommer

Anagrams

• vloer

French

Etymology

A 17th century borrowing from North Sea Germanic language verb "lofen, lufen". The 1986 Dictionnaire de l'Académie française identifies the source as Low German (Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German); Jan de Vries' Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek (which identifies it as a possible cognate of Dutch leuver) suggests East Frisian instead.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?.ve/

Verb

lover

1. to coil (a rope or cord), to fake a line
2. (reflexive, of a snake) to coil up, wind up; to curl up

Conjugation

Further reading

• “lover” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• voler

Middle English

Noun

lover (plural lovers)

1. lover

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

lover m pl

1. indefinite masculine plural of lov

Verb

lover

1. present tense of love

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• lovar m pl

Noun

lover f pl

1. indefinite feminine plural of lov

Etymology 2

Verb

lover

1. present of lova

English

Alternative forms

• (American English) favorite

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French favorit, from Old French favorit or Italian favorito (“favoured, favourite”), past participle of Italian favorire (“to favor”). Doublet of favori.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fe?v.??t/

Adjective

favourite (not comparable) (Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Malta, South Africa)

1. Preferred or liked above all others (unless qualified).

   This is my second favourite occupation.

   Antonyms: least favorite, unfavourite, unfavorite

2. Belonging to a category whose members are all preferred or liked over nonmembers.

   I just saw a movie with all my favourite actors in it.

Translations

Noun

favourite (plural favourites) (Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Malta, South Africa)

1. A person or thing who enjoys special regard or favour.

   Antonyms: unfavourite, unfavorite

2. A person who is preferred or trusted above all others.
3. A contestant or competitor thought most likely to win.

   You were my favourite to win the spelling competition.

   Synonym: top dog

4. (Internet) A bookmark in a web browser.
5. (in the plural) A short curl dangling over the temples, fashionable in the reign of Charles II.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Farquhar to this entry?)

Related terms

Translations

Verb

favourite (third-person singular simple present favourites, present participle favouriting, simple past and past participle favourited) (Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Malta, South Africa)

1. To favour.
2. (Internet) To bookmark.
3. (Internet) To add to one's list of favourite items on a website that allows users to compile such lists.

   Antonyms: unfavourite, unfavorite

Derived terms

• fave