Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. neologism An involuntary state of mind which seems to result from a romantic attraction for another person combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated.
Etymologies
- Coined by Dorothy Tennov, Professor of Psychology (Emeritus), University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Circa 1977. The coinages are arbitrary; there is no specific etymology. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“What's particularly interesting about limerence is its etymology, or lack thereof, as explained in this quote from Dorothy Tennov, the word's inventor:1977 Observer 11 Sept. 3/9, I first used the term amorance' then changed it back to limerence'...”
“This doesn't mean he won't fool around with men when it's socially demanded, or when it's convenient, because let's face it, he's an eighteen-year-old man in a homosocial society and honey, any port in a storm (so to speak) -- but to me at least it's pretty obvious that all his limerence is directed at women.”
“She coined limerence to describe this state, and wrote in The Observer in 1977 that the word was entirely her own.”
“Reader James Arthur, responding to a recent column about the philtrum and Cupid's bow both references to the upper lip, passes along the lovely word limerence.”
“Previous research suggested that the first stages of romantic love, a rollercoaster ride of mood swings and obsessions that psychologists call limerence, start to fade within 15 months.”
“Underscoring the depth of her limerence was the follow-up medley of "Ain't nothing like the real thing/You make me feel like a natural woman.”
“It contradicts a previous study suggesting that passionate love peters out in 15 months, after going through a roller coaster ride, called 'limerence' in psychological parlance.”
“Scanning the brains of people who have been together for 20 years, the scientists found that about one in 10 couples still display elements of "limerence", the psychologists 'term for the obsessive behaviour of new lovers.”
“Psychologist Dorothy Tennov devoted her career studying this experience, and labeled this passionate form limerence.”
“Whether you are structuring old love or new love these markers that characterize the progression of a developing romance and are tied to this notion of limerence.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘limerence’.
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nouns
enfleurage, fautor, mafia, haslet, chopine, sea-gate, cantillation, formicary, go-devil, Gongorism, mamzer, mazarine and 147 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 more...
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Interesting
iridescent, luminescent, gossamer, blithe, illusory, halo, cygnet, covet, bloody, iris, pruinose, limerence and 15 more...
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Uncommon words for common occurances
Weird terms and holophrases for various conditions, circumstances, and pursuits of quotidian life
aegrotat, kakistocracy, kerdomeletia, oniochalasia, adoxography, belaud, schadenfreude, hygeiolatry, limen, jamais, lypophrenia, potvaliant and 7 more...
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Mawidge is what bwings us togevaah
Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage . . .
chichevache, bicorne, uxorovalent, uxoravalent, uxorious, unfellowed, azygophrenia, agapetae, agunah, anaxiphilia, anuloma, pratiloma and 28 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
via Weird and Wonderful Words
Catch-all for things culled from Weird and Wonderful Words, More Weird and Wonderful Words, and Totally Weird and Wonderful Words, by Erin McKean, et al.
aboulia, alexiteric, angletouch, dactylion, alveary, sparlire, glabella, philtrum, pallium, heart-spoon, hyperprosexia, paraprosexia and 438 more...
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andystardust's Words
liminal, soporific, solipsism, calumny, sanguine, egregious, inimical, corpus, divulge, a fortiori, salutary, evanescence and 118 more...
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collection
sanguine, vie, antebellum, glacial, treacly, iconoclast, lissom, anathema, serendipity, parsimonious, histrionic, contemptuous and 279 more...
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other lookups
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
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ElRojo
R. Peter Jackson's list
cantillation, jackstaff, pullulate, whoremonger, colloquy, batman, anathema, idiosyncratic, facilitation, sympathy, empathy, satrap and 135 more...
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littlemasumi's list
thaumatolatry, liminality, sophistry, myopia, prosopopeia, palimpsest, imbroglio, ephemeral, sentient, prescient, vicissitude, zeitgeist and 103 more...
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✖ LOCUTIONS
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lambda, coital, HUGO, fuggedaboutit, altrap, Hieroglyphics, Synergy, incarceration, Ethos, Devadasi, distraught, Patrician and 254 more...
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Having: C; m; e
Goodies pulled from a list I've compiled of most-every word having these letters in common — It's going take to take a long, long time to actually get through (and I may want to extend it lat...
chamber, chimney, compesce, imperch, ipom�ic, lambency, premier cru, recumbence, simnelcake, succumbence, umbeschew, almacle and 631 more...
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Dewitful
visions of witfulness and vision - a wise guise
revision, advisor, ideal, witty, witness, veda, druid, penguin, hadal, idea, story, history and 269 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for limerence.
Louises Limerence Read this word for the first time recently and made the immediate link with liminal, a link that gives instant depth to the limeral experience. Aug 19, 2012
michaelt42 "Jolted is funny and smart and fast paced. And it's written with real love for that fascinating liminal creature called the young teenager, for whom the sky is always just about to fall."
Tim Wynne-Jones; Electrifying; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Sep 13, 2008.
Change liminal to limeral (back formation from limerance) and would you detect any difference in meaning?. Tennov's claim to lack of etymology doesn't hold water - the source is within her own mind, apparently censored by the substitution of -er- for -in- and the obfuscating suffix -ance. Feb 13, 2012
leaden Possibly. Try it in a complete sentence. Also, have a look at the examples to the right, above.
Edit Oops. I meant “right”, I typed “left”. Corrected. Oct 9, 2011
Marnwave highschool limerence. Is this the right way to use this? Oct 9, 2011
whichbe The initial exhilarating rush of falling in love; the state of "being in love". May 20, 2008
mollusque In 1977 D. Tennov, who coined the word, said "I first used the term 'amorance' then changed it back to 'limerence'... It has no roots whatsoever. It looks nice. It works well in French. Take it from me it has no etymology whatsoever." Nov 7, 2007