true loves

Noun

true love (countable and uncountable, plural true loves)

1. (uncountable, originally) Feelings of love that are adhered to faithfully, or the faithful manifestation of such feelings.
   • I shall be forsworn, which is a great argument of falsehood, if I love. And how can that be true love which is falsely attempted? Love is a familiar; Love is a devil: there is no evil angel but Love, […]1595–1596, William Shakespeare, Loues Labour's loſt, act I, scene ii
2. (countable, originally) A lover who is faithful to the object of his or her affection or faithfully loved themselves.
   • I leant my back unto an aik,
     I thought it was a trusty tree;
     But first it bow’d, and fyne it brak,
     Sae my true love did lightly me.1765, “Waly Waly, Love Be Bonny”, as quoted in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry: Consisting of Old Heroic Ballads, Songs, and Other Pieces of Our Earlier Poets (1905), Thomas Percy (editor)
3. (uncountable, by later reinterpretation) The form of romantic affection that is considered pure and wholly positive, not just based on feelings of lust and sex.
   • Some believe that true love doesn’t exist.
4. (countable, by later reinterpretation) The unique individual for whom one feels such affection.
   • He was my one true love.
5. (uncountable, by later reinterpretation) The situation in which a couple is perfectly compatible and there is no better relationship, as set by a greater force such as God or fate.
6. (countable) A thing for which a person feels an intense love.
   • Cinematography is my only true love.