What does eros mean?
Eros is a noun denoting sexual love or intense passionate desire, especially when understood as a powerful, even creative, force within human life. The word entered English from ancient Greek, where érōs named both passionate love and the god who embodied it — the winged son of Aphrodite whom the Romans later called Cupid. Lowercase, eros appears most often in philosophy, psychology, and literature to distinguish passionate desire from other kinds of love, such as friendship (philia) or unconditional love (agape). In Plato's writing, eros becomes something loftier than lust: a longing for beauty and truth itself. Sigmund Freud later adopted the term for his life instinct, opposing it to thanatos, the death drive. Today the word retains a formal, intellectual register; it signals considered reflection on desire rather than casual talk about romance, making it valuable in scholarly, therapeutic, and literary contexts.
nounEros is sexual love or desire, especially as a creative or life-giving force, in contrast to other forms of love. In Greek mythology, Eros is the god of love and sexual desire, typically depicted as the son of Aphrodite.
- Sexual love or passionate desire, especially conceived as a fundamental life force (as in Platonic or psychoanalytic thought).
- In Greek mythology: the god of love and sexual desire, son of Aphrodite, often identified with Cupid in Roman tradition.
"Plato distinguished eros, the passionate longing for beauty and truth, from mere physical appetite."
"For Plato, eros was not merely appetite but the soul's striving toward beauty and truth."
"In Freudian theory, eros drives not only sexuality but all the instincts of life and self-preservation."
Rarely pluralized; the plural 'eroses' appears occasionally in academic writing discussing multiple conceptions of eros, but the word is normally treated as uncountable.
"The essay compared the different eroses imagined by Plato and Freud."
The ancient Greeks gave love so many words that they needed one just for the kind that keeps you up at night — that word was eros.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eros
Eros comes directly from ancient Greek ἔρως (érōs), meaning 'love' or 'desire', which was also the name of the Greek god of love. The word passed into English largely through Latin and scholarly usage, becoming established in philosophical and psychological writing by the 19th century. It shares its root with the adjective 'erotic' and related terms such as 'erotica'.
Related word forms
How eros is actually used
Eros is a formal, literary, or academic term rather than everyday vocabulary. It carries philosophical and psychological weight, particularly through Plato's dialogues and Freud's writings. Capitalized, it names the mythological deity; lowercase, it denotes the concept of passionate or sexual love.
Easily confused with eros
Erroneous means mistaken or incorrect; eros refers to sexual desire or the Greek god of love.
Erosion is the gradual wearing away of rock or soil; eros denotes passionate love or desire.