Is there a single idea or definition that runs through all the varieties of “love”?
The word love is used for so many different things that sometimes I fear the meaning may well be lost at some point. You hear the phrases such as I love my iPod, I love those shoes, I love this and I love that, love, love, love. In some languages the word love retains its special place, for example Greek and French. I remember learning in one of my favorite courses of all time Greek Mythology and Anthropology that the word “love” was very special and not used lightly. I find the same thing in the French language; aimer or to love is used sparingly so that its impact still keeps its strength.
When you see the many different relationships that one associates with love; be it a place, an idea, people or animals, I suppose the common denominator is the level of importance to your happiness and well-being that the other carries in your estimation.
Does the overusage of a word diminish its meaning even if the word or the feeling that the word represents is so powerful? Can a word be immune to manipulation or better yet can a definition be kept safe? I know that language is very fluid and representational but at some point do our feelings and our communications suffer from such fluidity?
laurieanichols 
I know what you mean exactly!
I am so glad that you got what I so clumsily tried to explain.
Here was my take that you’ve read before:
http://weescoops.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/what-is-love/
I agree that concepts are vulnerable when the words we use are watered down with secondary meanings and connotations.
I reread what you had written and you said it so much better than I did. The only thing that I would disagree with and you addressed it when you said that you are not a pet owner is you know how much I love Jack and there was Rex and all the others that graced us with their company and I think that Jack loves us as did Rex. It could be my imagination and he only knows that I am his food source but that is okay. I still love my little guy.:)