Love

===Ancient Roman (Latin)===
The [[Latin|Latin language]] has several verbs corresponding to the English word "love." {{lang|la|[[wikt:amo#Latin|amō]]}} is the basic verb meaning ''I love'', with the infinitive {{lang|la|[[wikt:amare#Italian|amare]]}} ("to love") as it still is in [[Italian language|Italian]] today. The Romans used it both in an affectionate sense as well as in a romantic or sexual sense. From this verb come {{lang|la|amans}}—a lover, {{lang|la|amator}}, "professional lover," often with the accessory notion of lechery—and {{lang|la|amica}}, "girlfriend" in the English sense, often being applied euphemistically to a prostitute. The corresponding noun is {{lang|la|amor}} (the significance of this term for the Romans is well illustrated in the fact, that the name of the city, [[Rome]]—in Latin: {{lang|la|Roma}}—can be viewed as an [[anagram]] for {{lang|la|amor}}, which was used as the secret name of the City in wide circles in ancient times),<ref>{{citation|first=Thomas|last=Köves-Zulauf|title=Reden und Schweigen|location=Munich|publisher=Fink|year=1973}}</ref> which is also used in the plural form to indicate love affairs or sexual adventures. This same root also produces {{lang|la|amicus}}—"friend"—and {{lang|la|amicitia}}, "friendship" (often based to mutual advantage, and corresponding sometimes more closely to "indebtedness" or "influence"). [[Cicero]] wrote a treatise called ''On Friendship'' ({{lang|la|[[Laelius de Amicitia|de Amicitia]]}}), which discusses the notion at some length. [[Ovid]] wrote a guide to dating called {{lang|la|[[Ars Amatoria]]}} (''The Art of Love''), which addresses, in depth, everything from [[Affair|extramarital affairs]] to overprotective parents.

Latin sometimes uses {{lang|la|amāre}} where English would simply say ''to like''. This notion, however, is much more generally expressed in Latin by the terms {{lang|la|placere}} or {{lang|la|delectāre}}, which are used more colloquially, the latter used frequently in the love poetry of [[Catullus]]. {{lang|la|Diligere}} often implies "to be affectionate for," "to esteem," and rarely if ever is used for romantic love. This word would be appropriate to describe the friendship of two men. The corresponding noun {{lang|la|diligentia}}, however, has the meaning of "diligence" or "carefulness," and has little semantic overlap with the verb. {{lang|la|Observare}} is a synonym for {{lang|la|diligere}}; despite the cognate with English, this verb and its corresponding noun, {{lang|la|observantia}}, often denote "esteem" or "affection." {{lang|la|[[Charity (virtue)|Caritas]]}} is used in Latin translations of the Christian Bible to mean "charitable love"; this meaning, however, is not found in Classical pagan [[Latin literature|Roman literature]]. As it arises from a [[conflation]] with a Greek word, there is no corresponding verb.