Etymograph

English

loving

Loving comes from Middle English lovynge, from Old English lufung; it is love + -ing.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150lufung1‘love, loving’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lovynge1‘love, loving’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1851loving1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English loving
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1851, Herman Melville, The Whale: “all natural lovings and longings”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150lufungWiktionary, English loving‘love, loving’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lovyngeWiktionary, English loving‘love, loving’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1851lovingWiktionary, English loving. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1851, Herman Melville, The Whale: “all natural lovings and longings”

Explore everything descended from lufung →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun The action of the verb to love.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “loving”. 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 / Old English lufung / loving