meilė
[¹ˈmʲæˑɪlʲeː]feminine
The English word love translates to Lithuanian as meilė.
The noun meilė refers to strong affection.
Meaning: strong affection (noun)
Which one should you use?
The noun meilė is derived from the verb mylėti. While meilė is the name of the feeling, mylėti and its related forms like myliu (I love) are used to express the action of loving. Additionally, the verb mylėtis can be used as a euphemism meaning to have sex with someone.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun meilė is a feminine noun. When you want to say 'of love', use the genitive singular form meilės. When 'love' is the direct object of a sentence, use the accusative form meilę. If you are using the verb mylėti, the first person singular present tense form is myliu (I love).
Did you know?
- Lithuanian is one of the most archaic living Indo-European languages, meaning the roots of words like meilė have changed much less over millennia than their English counterparts.
- The word meilė is a distant cousin to the Lithuanian word mi̇́elas, which means 'nice' or 'sweet'. This suggests that the very concept of love is linguistically rooted in the idea of pleasantness.
- The verb mylėti can sometimes feel more heavy and serious than the English 'to love', often implying a profound, life-altering devotion rather than just a casual liking.
Examples in context
- Ar tai yra meilė?Is this love?This sentence is useful for asking if a feeling is love using meilė.Tatoeba #2157992 by kotik, translation #326263 by CK
- Meilė – kaip deguonis.Love is like oxygen.This sentence uses a metaphor to compare meilė to oxygen.Tatoeba #4171373 by kotik, translation #1670129 by al_ex_an_der
- Ji – mano pirmoji meilė.She's my first love.This sentence is useful for identifying someone as a first meilė.Tatoeba #2678304 by kotik, translation #541872 by FeuDRenais
- Aš tave myliu.I love you.
- Tu man labai brangi(-as).You are very precious to me.
- 9 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Andrius and Eglė are talking about their relationship.
- AndriusEglė, mano meilė tau yra begalinė.Eglė, my love for you is endless.
- EglėAčiū, Andriui. Aš taip pat jaučiu meilę.Thank you, Andrius. I feel love too.
- AndriusMeilė yra svarbiausias dalykas pasaulyje.Love is the most important thing in the world.
- EglėSutinku, kad tikra meilė viską įveikia.I agree that true love overcomes everything.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “love” translations and entries meilė, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries meilė, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
