am

love

Quick Summary

The Latin root word am means “love.” This Latin root is the word origin of a good number of English vocabulary words, including amateur, amatory, and Amanda. The Latin root word am is easily recalled through the word amor, or “love,” which is not only both the Spanish and Latin words for “love,” but is often used in English to refer to Cupid, the god of “love” whom we see flying around on Valentine’s Day causing so much trouble!

I Am in Love with "Am"

The Latin root word am means “love.” Let’s spend the next few minutes in amorous or “loving” concentration on am!

The name Amanda is one that specifically expresses parents’ “love” for their child, for the name Amanda means “she who is to be loved.” Parents become enamored or in “love” with their adorable children at first sight, as they can be so captivating and cute. Then, when the child grows into an adult and wants to become a parent herself, she will have an amatory or passionate “loving” relationship with her significant other, ending up with a child of her own.

Don’t you just “love” the amenities you get when you go to a fancy hotel? A hotel’s amenities are meant to be “loved” by its guests; things such as free personal items, Jacuzzis, wifi, and great room service delight visitors. Who wouldn’t “love” those things?

Latin gave rise to the Romance languages Italian, French, and Spanish (among some forty others). Those three languages abound in words for “love” based on the Latin root word am meaning “love.” Let’s first focus on words for the noun “love:” the Spanish word is amor, the Italian amore, and the French is amour. Then, of course, you have to be able to say “I love you” in those Romance languages as well—what could be more romantic than that? Probably French is the most romantic of all: je t’aime means “I love you,” whereas Spanish is te amo, and Italian is ti amo. Imagine using all three of these for the “love” of your life! How romantic!

What would a podcast on the root word for “love” be without Cupid or Amor, that god whose quiver of “love” arrows has caused so many people to fall in “love” with one another? When Cupid shoots his arrow at a girl, she will soon have an inamorato, or boyfriend with whom she is in “love;” conversely, if Cupid were to shoot one of his love arrows at a boy, he might very well soon have an inamorata, or girlfriend whom he now “loves.” You never know when you yourself will be shot, so watch out!

Now you are no longer just an amateur about am, or one who “loves” to do something but is not an expert at it. Enjoy your new knowledge of the root word am—I hope that you will learn to “love” to use it!

  1. Amanda: she who is to be “loved”
  2. amorous: of or pertaining to “love”
  3. enamored: in “love” with
  4. amatory: of a “love” relationship
  5. amenity: things that people “love” to have that make a place comfortable to live in
  6. amor: Spanish word for “love”
  7. amore: Italian word for “love”
  8. amour: French word for “love”
  9. je t’aime: French for “I love you”
  10. te amo: Spanish for “I love you”
  11. ti amo: Italian for “I love you”
  12. inamorato: a male with whom someone has fallen in “love”
  13. inamorata: a female with whom someone has fallen in “love”
  14. amateur: one who “loves” to do something but is not a professional at it

Usage

  • amenity

    Amenities are things that make a place comfortable or easy to live in, such as hot water, updated bathrooms, and sports facilities.

  • amatory

    When two people have an amatory relationship with one another, they are physically affectionate with and/or passionately in love with one another.

Related Word Sums

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