α. 1500s looue-mate, 1500s loue-mate, 1800s– love-mate.
β. 1500s loues-mate.
love-maten.
/ˈlʌvmeɪt/, U.S. /ˈləvˌmeɪt/ A romantic partner; a lover.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > a lover > [noun] > one who is loved or a sweetheart
copenerc897
lovec1225
lemanc1275
sweetinga1300
druery13..
doceamurc1320
paramoura1375
honeybirdc1390
honey-sweetc1440
dowsec1450
heart-rootc1460
prim1509
joa1529
sweetheart1576
love-mate1582
belamour1590
copemate1593
frister1639
sprunny1739
Liebling1868
Liebchen1876
angel pie1878
loved one1879
cariad1899
square piece1925
sheikha1926
sweetie-pie1928
oppo1932
poopsie1937
mi'jita1970
squeeze1980
boo1988
bae2006
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 75 At my tears showring dyd he sigh?..dyd he yeeld ons mercye toe loouemate? [L. Num fletu ingemuit nostro?..Num lacrimas victus dedit aut miseratus amantem est?]
1586 W. Warner Albions Eng. i. vi. 17 For her, her mother Ceres and her Loues-mate did complaine.
1591 R. Greene Farewell to Folly To Gent. Stud. sig. A3 Sweete companions and louemates of learning.
1817 Ld. Byron Lament Tasso v A Princess was no love-mate for a bard.
1884 Lima (Ohio) Democratic Times 16 Feb. 1/5 A certain custom, dating back certainly to the eleventh century, of holding ‘lotteries of selection’ of love-mates for each year.
1902 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 319 The willing, or it may be unwilling, love-mate of Paris.
1965 Jrnl. Marriage & Family 27 316/2 ‘Serial’ promiscuity with different love mates has become more permissible.
1992 Yoga Jrnl. Jan.–Feb. 8 (advt.) So far, 810 people have happily reported meeting love mates in their ‘Venus Zones’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1582