Lovability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The characteristic that makes someone or something delightful and capable of inciting love or affection in others is essential to this appeal
2. A trait that elicits warm feelings, charm, or affection in others reflects this appealing quality
3. The measure of how endearing or attractive a person or thing is to others

Etymology: "Lovability" is a plain compound: the noun "love" with the suffix "-ability" attached. The suffix comes from Latin "-abilitas," which turns adjectives ending in "-able" into nouns for the quality of being able to be done or to be such. Latin "-abilis" (as in "amabilis," lovable) passed into English through Middle French "-able," and the "-ity" ending of "-abilitas" follows the same route into English as "-ability." Attaching the suffix to "love" was an English formation, so the word is far younger than its parts. Because the suffix is so productive, English speakers could build "lovability" from any verb that takes "-able," which is why the word reads as an ordinary, almost self-explanatory noun. Its meaning follows the pattern of such nouns: the quality that makes someone easy to love, rather than the act of loving.

Synonyms: charm, appeal, endearment

Antonyms: dislikability, unappeal, repulsiveness