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.
   • 2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     In A League of Their Own (1992), as the shouty baseball coach to an all-girls team, he's once again a curmudgeonly but lovable mentor figure.

   • 2023 January 27, Patrick Connolly, “Meet the Orlando rescue dogs playing in Puppy Bowl XIX”, in Orlando Sentinel‎^[2]:

     At 20 pounds, Jimmy Kibble is a lovable, beautiful pomsky — a cross between a Pomeranian and a husky. But he has a lot of energy.

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.