English

loveman

love + man, an allusion to its habit of clinging to passers-by.

A compound of love + man

Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- ‘love’

…

Proto-Germanic *lubō ‘love’

Proto-West Germanic *lubu

Old English lufu

Middle English love ‘love’

English love

Proto-Germanic *mann- ‘human being, person, man’

Proto-West Germanic *mann ‘person’

Old English mann ‘human being, person, man’

Middle English man

English man

Today it means

noun Synonym of cleavers (“the plant”).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.