Did someone send you an email and write ‘lots of love’ before they signed their name? Or did you receive a letter in the mail with this phrase? If you’re wondering what it means, you’ve come to the right place.
In short, ‘lots of love’ is a casual and informal way to end a written message to a person that you love, such as a romantic partner, a relative, or a friend.
‘Lots of love’ is an informal way to end a letter or message to somebody you feel affection for. This could be a person you are in a romantic relationship with or a close friend or relative.
For example, if you’re sending an email to your best friend that you haven’t seen in years, you might sign off by saying ‘lots of love’ before signing your name. Similarly, if you were sending a Christmas card to your relatives, you could end the letter by saying ‘lots of love from’ and then writing your name.
While the ancient Greeks had six different words to describe different types of love, in English, we really only have one. This means that the word ‘love’ is used to describe the feelings a parent has for a child, a husband has for a wife, a friend has for a friend, etc. The word ‘love’ can even be used to describe how a person feels toward an inanimate object, such as a coffee drink, a dress, or a car.
When someone says ‘lots of love,’ they are casually sending a lot of positive, warm sentiments your way. It would be inappropriate to end an email, letter, or message to your boss with ‘lots of love,’ but completely acceptable to do so in a message to your sister, spouse, or an old friend.
As you might imagine, the word ‘love’ has deep roots in the English language. The Old English word ‘lufu’ meaning “feeling of love; friendliness; affection; romantic sexual attraction; Love as a personification or abstraction; the love of God,” dates back many centuries.
The word 'love' has been used to mean “a beloved person” as far back as the early 13th century, while Old English also used the word in the weakened sense of “liking, fondness.”
‘Lot’ is also a word that stems from Old English in the form of the word ‘hlot,’ which was an object used to determine a person’s share of something. This object was commonly a chip of wood that had a name inscribed on it.
The meaning of ‘lot’ that is used in ‘lots of love’ dates back to 1812 with the generalized sense of a “great many.” In 1906, the slang ‘lotta’ emerged to mean “lot of,” while ‘losta’ appeared in 1927, meaning ‘lots of.”
If you see someone say ‘lotta love’ or ‘lotsa love,’ they are communicating the same meaning as ‘lots of love.’
How would you use ‘lots of love’ in a sentence? You would typically use this phrase as a way to end a letter or message before writing your name. However, it can also be used within sentences such as “the mother felt ‘lots of love’ for her newborn.”
What are some other ways you can convey the same message as ‘lots of love’? Here are similar phrases you can use to close a letter that communicates a synonymous or nearly synonymous meaning:
Are you on a roll learning English phrases and are ready to learn some more? Be sure to check out our idioms blog. Until then, we’re sending ‘lots of love’ from the Writing Tips team to you and yours!
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