Etymograph

English

lovesome

Lovesome comes from Old English lufsum ‘loving, lovable, pleasant’, from lufu ‘love’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewbʰ-1‘to love, care for, desire’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lubō2‘love, affection’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lubu2‘love’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150lufu3‘love’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lufsum4‘loving, lovable, pleasant’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lufsom4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1700lovesome4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *lubō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English lufu
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English lufsum
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English lovesome
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1700, John Dryden, The Beginning of the First Book of Lucretius,: “Through all the living Regions dost thou move, And…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewbʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *lubō‘to love, care for, desire’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lubōWiktionary, Old English lufu‘love, affection’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lubuWiktionary, Old English lufu‘love’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150lufuWiktionary, Old English lufsum‘love’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lufsumWiktionary, English lovesome‘loving, lovable, pleasant’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lufsomWiktionary, English lovesome
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1700lovesomeWiktionary, English lovesome. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1700, John Dryden, The Beginning of the First Book of Lucretius,: “Through all the living Regions dost thou move, And…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- ‘to love, care for, desire’

left, believe, leave, library, belief, leaf, lovely, lodge, lobby, lib, libel, loft, libido, liber, lob, libretto, luft, lief, 15 more

through Proto-West Germanic *lubu ‘love’

loved, 2 more

Today it means

adj Worthy of love; having qualities that inspire love; lovable.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lovesome”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *lubō, Old English lufu, Old English lufsum. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- / lovesome

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