Love vs. Friendship — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on September 21, 2023
Love is a deep, emotional bond often encompassing romance or family. Friendship is a bond between individuals based on mutual affection and trust, without romantic involvement. Both involve care but differ in depth and nature.
Difference Between Love and Friendship
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Love and friendship are both profound human connections, yet they manifest differently. Love is a deep-seated emotion often associated with romantic partners, family members, or even intense passion for hobbies or interests. It can evoke feelings of warmth, contentment, and often an urge to care for or protect the object or person of one's love.
On the other hand, friendship is based on mutual respect, trust, and shared interests or values. Friends provide companionship, understanding, and support, fostering a sense of belonging. Friendship lacks the romantic or familial intensity that love possesses but is instead characterized by camaraderie and shared experiences.
While love often emerges spontaneously, sometimes even at first sight, friendship usually develops over time. It's the result of shared memories, challenges, and mutual understanding. Love, especially in romantic contexts, can be accompanied by physical attraction, while friendship rarely has this element.
Love can be tumultuous, leading to highs and lows in emotions, while friendship tends to be steadier. It is not uncommon for love to transform into friendship over time, especially after the intensity of romantic feelings fades. However, it's essential to note that while all romantic relationships involve love, not all love is romantic; one can love a friend deeply without any romantic undertones.
Comparison Chart
Nature
Deep emotional bond often involving romance or family
Mutual affection and trust without romance
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Development
Can emerge spontaneously
Develops over time through shared experiences
Physical Attraction
Often present, especially in romantic love
Rarely involves physical attraction
Intensity
Can be tumultuous and intense
Tends to be steadier and less intense
Basis
Passion, care, intimacy
Mutual respect, trust, shared interests
Compare with Definitions
Love
A deep emotional connection to someone or something.
Her love for her children is evident in everything she does.
Friendship
A non-romantic relationship characterized by trust and understanding.
Their friendship is purely platonic, with no romantic feelings involved.
Love
A selfless and enduring commitment to another's well-being.
His act of sacrifice showcased his true love for her.
Friendship
An association formed around shared interests or activities.
Their love for hiking turned into a lifelong friendship.
Love
Passion or zeal for a particular activity or object.
Her love for painting shines through in her artwork.
Friendship
A bond between individuals based on mutual affection.
Their friendship has stood the test of time, lasting over two decades.
Love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse, which differs from the love of food.
Friendship
A relationship of mutual support and camaraderie.
In times of trouble, she always relied on the strength of her friendships.
Love
A strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship.
Friendship
An informal alliance or relationship between people.
Their business friendship benefits both companies.
Love
A strong feeling of affection and concern for another person accompanied by sexual attraction.
Friendship
Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association, and has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy.
Love
A feeling of devotion or adoration toward God or a god.
Friendship
The quality or condition of being friends.
Love
A feeling of kindness or concern by God or a god toward humans.
Friendship
A friendly relationship
Formed new friendships at camp.
Love
Often Love(Christianity) Charity.
Friendship
Friendliness; good will
A policy of friendship toward other nations.
Love
Sexual desire or activity
The pleasures of love.
A night of love.
Friendship
(uncountable) The condition of being friends.
Love
An instance of being in love
Teenage loves can be as fleeting as they are intense.
Friendship
(countable) A friendly relationship, or a relationship as friends.
Love
A person for whom one has strong feelings of affection
She met her new love at the restaurant.
Friendship
(uncountable) Good will.
Love
Used as a term of endearment for such a person.
Friendship
The state of being friends; friendly relation, or attachment, to a person, or between persons; affection arising from mutual esteem and good will; friendliness; amity; good will.
There is little friendship in the world.
There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity.
Preferred by friendship, and not chosen by sufficiency.
Love
An intense emotional attachment to something, as to a pet or treasured object.
Friendship
Kindly aid; help; assistance,
Some friendship will it [a hovel] lend you gainst the tempest.
Love
An expression of one's affection
Send him my love.
Friendship
Aptness to unite; conformity; affinity; harmony; correspondence.
Those colors . . . have a friendship with each other.
Love
A strong predilection or enthusiasm
A love of language.
Love for the game of golf.
Friendship
The state of being friends
Love
The object of such an enthusiasm
The outdoors is her greatest love.
Love
Love(Mythology) Eros or Cupid.
Love
(Sports) A score of zero, as in tennis.
Love
To feel love for (a person)
We love our parents. I love my friends.
Love
To feel sexual love for (a person).
Love
To feel devotion to (God or a god).
Love
To feel or show kindness or concern to (a person). Used of God or a god.
Love
To have an intense emotional attachment to
Loves his house.
Love
To embrace or caress
They were loving each other on the sofa.
Love
To have sexual intercourse with.
Love
To like or desire enthusiastically
Loves swimming.
Love
To thrive on; need
The cactus loves hot, dry air.
Love
To feel love or sexual love for another.
Love
(uncountable) A deep caring for the existence of another.
Love
(uncountable) Strong affection.
Love
A profound and caring affection towards someone.
A mother’s love is not easily shaken.
My husband’s love is the most important thing in my life.
Love
Affectionate, benevolent concern or care for other people or beings, and for their well-being.
Love
A feeling of intense attraction towards someone.
I have never been in love as much as I have with you.
Love
A deep or abiding liking for something; an enthusiasm for something.
My love of cricket knows no bounds.
Love
(countable) A person who is the object of romantic feelings; a darling, a sweetheart, a beloved.
Love
A term of friendly address, regardless of feelings.
Hello love, how can I help you?
Love
A thing, activity, etc. which is the object of one's deep liking or enthusiasm.
Love
(euphemistic) Sexual desire; attachment based on sexual attraction.
Love
(euphemistic) Sexual activity.
Love
An instance or episode of being in love; a love affair.
Love
Used as the closing, before the signature, of a letter, especially between good friends or family members, or by the young.
Love
(obsolete) A thin silk material.
Love
A climbing plant, Clematis vitalba.
Love
Zero, no score.
So that’s fifteen-love to Kournikova.
Love
Nothing; no recompense.
Love
To have a strong affection for (someone or something).
I love my spouse.
I love you!
I love that song!
Love
(transitive) To need, thrive on.
Mold loves moist, dark places.
Love
(transitive) To be strongly inclined towards something; an emphatic form of like.
I love walking barefoot on wet grass;
I'd love to join the team;
I love what you've done with your hair
Love
To care deeply about, to be dedicated to (someone or something).
Love
(transitive) To derive delight from a fact or situation.
I love the fact that the coffee shop now offers fat-free chai latte.
Love
To have sex with (perhaps from make love).
I wish I could love her all night long.
Love
A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; preëminent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness; as, the love of brothers and sisters.
Of all the dearest bonds we proveThou countest sons' and mothers' loveMost sacred, most Thine own.
Love
Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate affection for, one of the opposite sex.
He on his sideLeaning half-raised, with looks of cordial loveHung over her enamored.
Love
Courtship; - chiefly in the phrase to make love, i. e., to court, to woo, to solicit union in marriage.
Demetrius . . . Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,And won her soul.
Love
Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or desire; fondness; good will; - opposed to hate; often with of and an object.
Love, and health to all.
Smit with the love of sacred song.
The love of science faintly warmed his breast.
Love
Due gratitude and reverence to God.
Keep yourselves in the love of God.
Love
The object of affection; - often employed in endearing address; as, he held his love in his arms; his greatest love was reading.
Open the temple gates unto my love.
Love
Cupid, the god of love; sometimes, Venus.
Such was his form as painters, when they showTheir utmost art, on naked Lores bestow.
Therefore do nimble-pinioned doves draw Love.
Love
A thin silk stuff.
Love
A climbing species of Clematis (Clematis Vitalba).
Love
Nothing; no points scored on one side; - used in counting score at tennis, etc.
He won the match by three sets to love.
Love
Sexual intercourse; - a euphemism.
A little western flower,Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound;And maidens call it love-in-idleness.
Love
To have a feeling of love for; to regard with affection or good will; as, to love one's children and friends; to love one's country; to love one's God.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self.
Love
To regard with passionate and devoted affection, as that of one sex for the other.
Love
To take delight or pleasure in; to have a strong liking or desire for, or interest in; to be pleased with; to like; as, to love books; to love adventures.
Wit, eloquence, and poetry.Arts which I loved.
Love
To have the feeling of love; to be in love.
Love
A strong positive emotion of regard and affection;
His love for his work
Children need a lot of love
Love
Any object of warm affection or devotion;
The theater was her first love
He has a passion for cock fighting
Love
A beloved person; used as terms of endearment
Love
A deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction;
Their love left them indifferent to their surroundings
She was his first love
Love
A score of zero in tennis or squash;
It was 40 love
Love
Sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people;
His lovemaking disgusted her
He hadn't had any love in months
He has a very complicated love life
Love
Have a great affection or liking for;
I love French food
She loves her boss and works hard for him
Love
Get pleasure from;
I love cooking
Love
Be enamored or in love with;
She loves her husband deeply
Love
Have sexual intercourse with;
This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm
Adam knew Eve
Were you ever intimate with this man?
Love
An intense feeling of romantic affection.
Their love story began in college and continues today.
Love
A term of endearment or affectionate address.
Don't worry, my love, everything will be alright.
Common Curiosities
How is friendship different from love?
Friendship is based on mutual trust and affection without romantic involvement.
Can love exist in friendship?
Yes, one can love a friend deeply without it being romantic.
Is physical attraction necessary in love?
Not always; love can exist without physical attraction, especially in non-romantic contexts.
Can friendships turn into romantic relationships?
Yes, sometimes friendships evolve into romantic relationships.
What is love?
Love is a profound emotional bond, often involving romance or familial connections.
Can romantic love fade over time?
Yes, romantic intensity might decrease, but the underlying love can remain or transform.
What's more important: love or friendship?
Both are valuable in their own right and serve different emotional needs.
Is love always romantic?
No, love can be platonic, familial, or even related to hobbies and interests.
Is jealousy a sign of love or friendship?
Jealousy can appear in both love and friendship, often stemming from insecurity or fear of loss.
What underpins a strong friendship?
Mutual respect, trust, and shared experiences typically form the foundation of friendship.
Is it possible to have a friendship without love?
While friendships often involve a form of love, they can exist without deep emotional love.
How can one differentiate between romantic love and friendship?
Romantic love often involves physical attraction and a deeper emotional intensity, while friendship is based on camaraderie and mutual respect.
Can love be one-sided?
Yes, it's possible to love someone without that love being reciprocated.
Can one have love without friendship?
While possible, strong romantic relationships often have a foundation of friendship.
Do all friendships last a lifetime?
Not necessarily; while some endure, others might fade due to various reasons.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
