# etymology of Slavic love terms: kochac?



## nose_bleed

I'm interested in the terms for "love" in Slavic, which seem to have a complex relationship. It seems there are basically three stems: lub-, mil-, and koch-.

Here's what I've figured out so far, looking at my three favorites , Polish, Czech and Russian:

Polish "lubić" (to like) is cognate with Russian "люби́ть" (to love) and the noun form "любо́вь".

Czech "milovat" (to love") is cognate with Polish "miłować" (to cherish) and the noun form "miłość", as well as "miło" (pleasant/endearing), and also with the Russian "ми́лый" (nice/sweet/lovable).

But then there's the Polish verb for to love-- "kochać".

What happened to koch- in the other Slavic languages? (I know it exists in Ukrainian--a native term, or a result of close contact with Polish?)

*Is there a cognate for this word anywhere in Czech or Russian? *That's what I'm most interested in. Hmm--*кохать? *кохати?

It doesn't seem that there is any word in Polish like "kochość", either. ??

I wasn't sure where to put this, since it involves three Slavic languages--but I am perhaps most interested in Russian here, so that's why I wrote in this forum. 

Etymologists help!


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## Anatoli

In Polish kochać - (to love) is stronger than "lubić" (to like) (lubię kawę - I like coffee). Same in Ukrainian with кохати/любити but любити can also express strong feelings (Russian influence?).

кохання/любов are synonyms in Ukrainian, both mean love (romantic). In Polish it's kochanie/miłość, as far I understand.  In Russian the stem кох- doesn't exist, although Russians understand it, it's considered Polish or Ukrainian.

As a result,

*Belarusian:*
я цяб*е* ках*а*ю
я цяб*е* любл*ю*
(both are OK)

*Ukrainian:*
я теб*е* кох*а*ю
я теб*е* любл*ю*
(both are OK)

*Russian:*
я теб*я* любл*ю*
(only this verb)
*
Polish:*
kocham cię
(only this verb)

*Czech:*
miluji tě (miluju tě)
 (only this verb)

Some people will argue that Ukrainian/Belarusian люблю is not as strong as кахаю/кохаю, I don't think so but the trend  may be towards using more Polish-sounding words in Ukrainian and reducing Russian-sounding words.

I am not an expert in Czech but I don't know if Polish "kochać" has a cognate anywhere apart from Ukrainian and Belarusian.


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## Awwal12

> Same in Ukrainian with кохати/любити but любити can also express strong feelings (Russian influence?).


Well, I would rather say that the verb "кохати" in Ukrainian (as well as in the Belarusian language and in some Russian dialects) is a result of medieval Polish influence at all - at least according to Vasmer's dictionary.  The verb "любити", as opposed to the first one, is an initially East Slavic word, and also takes place in Old Church Slavonic. It would be interesting to ask our South Slavic comrades about it. )


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## Christo Tamarin

nose_bleed said:


> I'm interested in the terms for "love" in Slavic, which seem to have a complex relationship. It seems there are basically three stems: lub-, mil-, and koch-.
> 
> Here's what I've figured out so far, looking at my three favorites , Polish, Czech and Russian:
> 
> Polish "lubić" (to like) is cognate with Russian "люби́ть" (to love) and the noun form "любо́вь".
> 
> Czech "milovat" (to love") is cognate with Polish "miłować" (to cherish) and the noun form "miłość", as well as "miło" (pleasant/endearing), and also with the Russian "ми́лый" (nice/sweet/lovable).
> 
> But then there's the Polish verb for to love-- "kochać".
> 
> What happened to koch- in the other Slavic languages? (I know it exists in Ukrainian--a native term, or a result of close contact with Polish?)
> 
> *Is there a cognate for this word anywhere in Czech or Russian? *That's what I'm most interested in. Hmm--*кохать? *кохати?
> 
> It doesn't seem that there is any word in Polish like "kochość", either. ??
> 
> I wasn't sure where to put this, since it involves three Slavic languages--but I am perhaps most interested in Russian here, so that's why I wrote in this forum.
> 
> Etymologists help!


 

According to Vassmer, the radix of the Polish words *kochać* and *kochanie* is met in the Russian *касаться/**коснуть* (_to touch, _Bulgarian *докосвам*), *раскош* (_splendour, luxury, _Bulgarian *разкош*). With another vocalisation, there is *чесать* (_to comb_, Bulgarian *чеша*).

These are the radixes involved:

*-люб-*: this is the older Slavic radix for _love_. Old Slavonic *любити* (_to love_), Russian *любить* (_to love_), Bulgarian *любя* (_to love_), Polish *lubić* (_to like_); Russian *любовь* (_love_), Bulgarian *любов* (_love_), Serbo-Croatian *лjубав* (_love_). This radix is cognate to English _love_. 

*-мил-*: this radix usually means _dear_. Also, Bulgarian *милее* (_to cherish_), Polish *miłować* (_to cherish_), Bulgarian *милвам* (_to caress_). However, Russian *милость* (_mercy_), Bulgarian *милост* (mercy), Polish *miłość* (_love_). From cherished to loved. From caress to love.

*-кос-*: see above. From touching to love.

*-объiк-*: _to accustom_. Bulgarian *обичам* (_to love_), *обич* (_love_). From accustoming to love.


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## Awwal12

> According to Vassmer, the radix of the Polish words kochać and kochanie is met in the Russian касаться/коснуть*ся* (to touch, Bulgarian докосвам), *роскошь* (splendour, luxury, Bulgarian разкош).


P.S.


> -объiк-: to accustom. Bulgarian обичам (to love), обич (love). From accustoming to love.


...Russian "обычный" (usual, ordinary), "обыкновенный" (-"-), "обыкновение" (a habit, a custom), "обычай" (a custom, a tradition).


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## radogost

Awwal12 said:


> Well, I would rather say that the verb "кохати" in Ukrainian (as well as in the Belarusian language and in some Russian dialects) is a result of medieval Polish influence at all - at least according to Vasmer's dictionary.  The verb "любити", as opposed to the first one, is an initially East Slavic word, and also takes place in Old Church Slavonic. It would be interesting to ask our South Slavic comrades about it. )


 

Here we are, South Slavics  

There is no trace of the radix "koch" in Serbo-Croat, as far as I can guess, except for the links that Christo mentioned. 
"Ljubiti/љубити" means "to kiss", with some ancient traces of "to love" such as in "Ljubi bližnjega svoga/љуби ближњега свога" - "Love thy neighbour". However, in "western version" (as we were tought in school to call our two dialects - Serbian:"eastern version of Serbo-Croat" and Croatian:"western version" ), "ljubiti" is quite frequently used meaning "to love", but to my ear, it bears somewhat ancient or formal literature air. However, the radix "ljub" in "zaljubiti se/заљубити се" - "to fall in love", makes the link to the Eastern Slavic meaning. As to "ljubavnik, ljubavnica/љубавник, љубавница" ("lover, mistress") I can't decide whether the ethymology is closer to "kiss" or to "love" 

The other radix "mil", "mili" means "dear", "milost" - "mercy", "milovati" - "to caress", with no obvious connection to "love", except for the latter.


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## Awwal12

radogost said:


> Here we are, South Slavics
> 
> There is no trace of the radix "koch" in Serbo-Croat, as far as I can guess, except for the links that Christo mentioned.
> "Ljubiti/љубити" means "to kiss", with some ancient traces of "to love" such as in "Ljubi bližnjega svoga/љуби ближњега свога" - "Love thy neighbour". However, in "western version" (as we were tought in school to call our two dialects - Serbian:"eastern version of Serbo-Croat" and Croatian:"western version" ), "ljubiti" is quite frequently used meaning "to love", but to my ear, it bears somewhat ancient or formal literature air. However, the radix "ljub" in "zaljubiti se/заљубити се" - "to fall in love", makes the link to the Eastern Slavic meaning. As to "ljubavnik, ljubavnica/љубавник, љубавница" ("lover, mistress") I can't decide whether the ethymology is closer to "kiss" or to "love"
> 
> The other radix "mil", "mili" means "dear", "milost" - "mercy", "milovati" - "to caress", with no obvious connection to "love", except for the latter.


Thanks, but what about exactly "to love" and related words - except old remnants you mentioned? Do you usually use the same root as Bulgarians (obyk/obych) in these words?


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## nose_bleed

Christo Tamarin said:


> According to Vassmer, the radix of the Polish words *kochać* and *kochanie* is met in the Russian *касаться/**коснуть* (_to touch, _Bulgarian *докосвам*), *раскош* (_splendour, luxury, _Bulgarian *разкош*). With another vocalisation, there is *чесать* (_to comb_, Bulgarian *чеша*).
> 
> These are the radixes involved:
> 
> *-люб-*: this is the older Slavic radix for _love_. Old Slavonic *любити* (_to love_), Russian *любить* (_to love_), Bulgarian *любя* (_to love_), Polish *lubić* (_to like_); Russian *любовь* (_love_), Bulgarian *любов* (_love_), Serbo-Croatian *лjубав* (_love_). This radix is cognate to English _love_.
> 
> *-мил-*: this radix usually means _dear_. Also, Bulgarian *милее* (_to cherish_), Polish *miłować* (_to cherish_), Bulgarian *милвам* (_to caress_). However, Russian *милость* (_mercy_), Bulgarian *милост* (mercy), Polish *miłość* (_love_). From cherished to loved. From caress to love.
> 
> *-кос-*: see above. From touching to love.
> 
> *-объiк-*: _to accustom_. Bulgarian *обичам* (_to love_), *обич* (_love_). From accustoming to love.




Thank you! This is fabulous!

Poles . . . is there any word like "kochość" at all?


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## Anatoli

I love you in other Slavic languages:

Slovak: *ľúb*im ťa, *mil*ujem ťa

In Serbo-Croatian languages:  *вол*им те/*vol*im te
Slovenian: *ljub*im te
Macedonian: те *сак*ам, те *љуб*ам
Bulgarian: *обич*ам те

love - romantic feeling (noun):
Russian: любовь
Ukrainian: любов, кохання
Belarusian: любоў, кахання

Polish: miłość
Czech/Slovak: láska

Bulgarian: любов, обич
Macedonian: љубов
In Serbo-Croatian languages: љубав/ljubav
Slovenian: ljubezen



> *-люб-*: this is the older Slavic radix for _love_. Old Slavonic *любити* (_to love_), Russian *любить* (_to love_), Bulgarian *любя* (_to love_), Polish *lubić* (_to like_); Russian *любовь* (_love_), Bulgarian *любов* (_love_), Serbo-Croatian *лjубав* (_love_). This radix is cognate to English _love_.


Very true, especially if you compare with the German words *Lieb*e/*lieb*en (related to the English word "love"), which sounds very similar to the Slavic radix.


> Poles . . . is there any word like "kochość" at all?


I am not Polish but "kochość" sounds very weird. It doesn't exist. There is "*kochanie*", a noun derived from 'kochać". "kochanie", unlike Ukrainian and Belarusian, in Polish means gerund of "to love" (loving) or form of address - sweetheart.


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## werrr

The stem *koch* is still productive in Czech.

The verb *kochati* used to be common in Old Czech and its meaning was:

  1. to fondle, to caress, to pet
  2. to amuse, to delight, to please, to give joy/pleasure
  3. to like, to love

The verb is obsolete in modern Czech, but it persists in its reflexive form *kochat se* _+ instrumental_ which means *to take delight* _in something_, *to relish/enjoy* _something_” and very often *to feast one’s eyes* _on something_.

Other common cognates are *rozkoš* (= pleasure, delight, bliss, ecstasy…) and *rozkošný* (= delightful, lovely, charming, adorable…).


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## kenius

nose_bleed said:


> I'm interested in the terms for "love" in Slavic, which seem to have a complex relationship. It seems there are basically three stems: lub-, mil-, and koch-.
> 
> Here's what I've figured out so far, looking at my three favorites , Polish, Czech and Russian:
> 
> Polish "lubić" (to like) is cognate with Russian "люби́ть" (to love) and the noun form "любо́вь".
> 
> Czech "milovat" (to love") is cognate with Polish "miłować" (to cherish) and the noun form "miłość", as well as "miło" (pleasant/endearing), and also with the Russian "ми́лый" (nice/sweet/lovable).
> 
> But then there's the Polish verb for to love-- "kochać".
> 
> What happened to koch- in the other Slavic languages? (I know it exists in Ukrainian--a native term, or a result of close contact with Polish?)
> 
> *Is there a cognate for this word anywhere in Czech or Russian? *That's what I'm most interested in. Hmm--*кохать? *кохати?
> 
> It doesn't seem that there is any word in Polish like "kochość", either. ??
> 
> I wasn't sure where to put this, since it involves three Slavic languages--but I am perhaps most interested in Russian here, so that's why I wrote in this forum.
> 
> Etymologists help!



I read the thread about the Polish Slavic word kochac (kochati). In Proto IndoEuropean there is a verbal root "*KA" 
*ka-
*kā-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to like, desire." 
The hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit Kama, name of the Hindu god of love, kamah "love, desire;" 
Old Persian kama "desire;" Latin carus "dear;" Old Irish cara "friend;" Proto-Germanic *horaz (fem. *horon-) "one who desires"*
It forms all or part of: caress; charity; cherish; Kama Sutra; whore

The root *KO in KOCHAC *could be a cognate (relative) to Indo-European *KA. 
So Persian and Sanskrit KAMA (KA + MA) meaning 'love, desire' could be related to Slavic KOCHA (KO+CHA) love*

Slavic is a Protoeuropean language, and was a next door neighbor to Indo-Iranians who lived in the UKRAINE in ancient times (Scythians, Sarmatians, Roxalans, Alans and Persians, etc.) 
For instance the Slavic word BOG=GOD is related to Persian BAG and Sanskrit BHAG both meaning GOD.
Slavic KO+CHAC seems to indicate a relation to Indo Iranian KA+MA - BOTH MEANING LOVE.
I hope this helps to provide an interesting possibility to explain the etymology of KOCHAC in the Slavic languages.

My ancestry is Polish, White Russian (which may mean Balto-Russian - BELO possibly being a translation of Lithuanian BALTO meaning WHITE,
because many Baltic tribes once lived there and became Russian speaking when Moscow expanded westward towards Europe, and so they used Russian BELO to translate their ethnic name BALTO - also meaning WHITE).
I post my comments in a friendly spirit, because like many of you I enjoy the pursuit of knowledge. 
I am an amateur at doing research, so I welcome comments from those more experienced than I.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/kabbalah


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## Christo Tamarin

I think that the stem of the Polish *kochać* is a cognate of the stem -kos-/-kas- meaning "to touch".

Этимология слова роскошь

At the above link, Vassmer mensions the Polish *kochać* as a cognate of *роскошь* along with the Russian "*кос*ну́ться".


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## Christo Tamarin

The root of the Bulgarian *обич* (love) [< *об-въик-ь] can be found in many Russian words: при*вык*ать, на*ук*а, etc.

The meaning of the Bulgarian *обич* shifted from "getting into a habit, being accustomed" to "love".


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## Włoskipolak 72

The verb *miłować *used to be common in Old Polish , you can find it anyway in the Bible , prayers , old poems etc.

miłować : darzyć kogoś miłością , uwielbiać coś, mieć zamiłowanie do czegoś

''Będziesz *miłował* Pana, Boga swego, z całego serca swego i z całej duszy swojej, i z całej myśli swojej''


*Etymologia*

Język praindoeuropejski _pie._*mēi-lo- lub *mī-lo-, _od rdzenia pie._ *mēi
Język prasłowiański
_psł._
*milovati
_od psł._
*milъ
Języki słowiańskie
_czes._
milovat
_słc._
milovat'
_ros._
milovat'
Inne języki indoeuropejskie
_lit._
míelas
_lit._
mýlas
_łot._
mĩļš
_stprus._
mijls
_grec._
meílos
_grec._
mílikhos
_łac._
mītis
Znaczenia i przykłady użycia​
«kochać, lubić, wysoko cenić, szanować, poważać, amare, diligere, aliquem carum habere, caritate complecti, alicuius amantem, studiosum esse»
«kochać, zakochanym być; kochać kogo, miłośnie, sprzyjaźnie», SWil: «miłością ogarniać, kochać; szczególniej mówiąc o miłości Boga i bliźniego», SW: «kochać, być zakochanym; ogarniać miłością, kochać, lubić serdecznie», SJPDor: przestarz. dziś poet. i gw. «być serdecznie, gorąco przywiązanym do kogoś lub do czegoś; kochać», UJSP: przestarz. a podn. «darzyć miłością coś lub kogoś; kochać»

miłować – Słownik etymologiczny


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## Włoskipolak 72

nose_bleed said:


> Thank you! This is fabulous!
> 
> Poles . . . is there any word like "kochość" at all?


I've never heard about "kochość"..!? It sounds ''strange''..

Miłość , kochanie , zakochanie (amourousness)

(verbs) zakochać, zakochiwać ,
(nouns) zakochany, zakochana, zakochiwanie

*kochać*

From Proto-Slavic **koxati*.

darzyć miłością; bardzo lubić’; 2. stpol. kochać (się) / chochać (się) ‘znajdować w kimś, czymś upodobanie, przyjemność, doznawać przyjemności, cieszyć się’; 3. również ‘mnożyć, rozwijać, powodować wzrost czegoś’ (XVI w.); 4. kochać się ‘dobrze się rozwijać w korzystnym dla siebie środowisku; wzrastać’ (XVI w.).

*Pochodzenie:*
Od XIV w.; płnsłow. (por. czes. kochat ‘kochać, radować, sprawiać radość’, kochat se ‘lubować się w kimś, rozkoszować się; pieścić’ , ros. dialektalne kochať ‘pieścić, otaczać troskliwą opieką’, kochaťsja ‘rosnąć, rozwijać się; pieścić się’)
< psłow. dialektalne *kochati – wariant psłow. **kosati* ‘dotykać, poruszać’ ;pierwotnie ‘delikatnie, lekko dotykać, głaskać’ > ‘pieścić’ > ‘pielęgnować’ i ‘sprawiać komuś przyjemność; okazywać przychylność uczucia, miłować’.

*kochać,* _ukochany_, _kochanek_, _kochanka,_ ze wszelakiemi spieszczeniami, _kochasia_, i i.; _kochliwy_, _kochliwość_, _zakochany_; od _koch_-, powtarzającego się w złożeniu _roz-kosz_, co jest i w serbskiem i ruskiem, gdy samo _kochać_ tylko w czeskiem i polskiem zachodzi.(1927)Aleksander Brückner


to take delight in *= lubować się*
to be infatuated with = *durzyć się w*
to adore = *uwielbiać *,* ubóstwiać*

to have a crush with smb. = *podkochiwać się* , *bujać się w kimś* , *być zadurzonym w kimś*
I had such a crush on him in high school = Byłam w nim taka *zadurzona (zabujana) *w liceum.

to dote on *= hołubić*
to lust = *pragnąć*, *pożądać*
to desire sb. = *pragnąć kogoś*

to cherish, love = *miłować , kochać

chuć (żądza, pożądanie) =*to inaczej pożądanie seksualne,


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## Awwal12

Sadly, Russian misses any reflexes of *pragnǫti.


Włoskipolak 72 said:


> to dote on *= hołubić*


Looks loaned. Old Czech or East Slavic? Cf. Rus. голубить (golúbit') "to care tenderly, to caress".



Włoskipolak 72 said:


> The verb *miłować *used to be common in Old Polish , you can find it anyway in the Bible , prayers , old poems etc.


Rus. милова́ть (milovát') "to caress" is present mostly in folklore. Not to be mixed with ми́ловать (mílovat') "to pardon" (ultimately from Church Slavonic?).


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## OBrasilo

Doesn't Czech also have _libát_ for "to love"? Though I'd imagine that to be a German loan.

Also, Slovenian has _pomilovanje_ which means "pity" and _pomilovati_ which means "to pity", but also _milost_ which means "mercy", _nemilost_ which is the opposite of mercy, _miloščina_ which means charity, and _pomilostiti_ which means "to pardon" (the noun, "pardon" is _pomilostitev_). There is also _mil_ which means gracious as well as mild (probably not related to the English world at all, but just a coincidence).

And "love" is _ljubezen_, with "to love" being _ljubiti_, and the words related to kissing are related: _poljub_ "kiss", _poljubiti_ "to kiss", _poljubljati_ "to be kissing" (someone else), _poljubljati se_ "to be kissing" (each other). There is also _ljubiti se_, which means both "to love" (each other) and "to make love".

No _koh-_ or _kos-_ stem in Slovenian that I know of.

We also have _voliti_ in Slovenian, but in Slovenian, it means "to hold an elect election", and _izvoliti_ means "to elect", "elections" are _volitve_. I think both the Slovenian and Serbo-Croatian senses originate from something akin to "to want", cf. Latin _volō_ "to want", and the evolution of _quiero_ in Spanish from "to want" to also mean "to love".

For _obič-_, we have _običaj_ "habit", and _običajen_ "habitual, usual", as well as _običajno_ "usually". In colloquial, _običajen_ is often replaced with _običen_, but that's a loan from Serbo-Croatian.


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