Amativeness

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈam.ə.tɪv.nɪs/

Definitions

1. A feeling or quality of strong sexual attraction or love towards others
2. The condition of experiencing passionate or romantic desire
3. A characteristic involving intense interest in physical intimacy or affection

Etymology: Amativeness is a plain English formation: the adjective "amative", meaning inclined to love or to amorous feeling, with the suffix "-ness" added to turn a quality into a noun. The adjective itself comes from Medieval Latin "amātīvus", built on the Latin verb "amāre", "to love", which is also the source of "amateur" and "amorous". The Latin verb traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root, but the path into English runs through the later Latin adjective. The "-ness" ending is one of the oldest and most productive suffixes in English, descending from Old English "-nes", and it has been attached to adjectives for more than a thousand years to name the state or quality they describe. Because "amative" carries the sense of love in its physical or sensual dimension, "amativeness" came to name that quality as a trait a person might have in greater or lesser measure. Its meaning in English therefore narrows the general idea of loving into a specific interest in intimacy and affection.

Synonyms: romanticism, affection, passion, love, fondness