Anteros

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The counterlove or affectionate response a philerast gives to the love of an erastes. historical, uncountable

    "The loved one, in turn, thus subject to the fiery soul of the lover, experiences anteros, a counterlove whose calm consent amounts to very filial affection […]"

Example

More examples

"The loved one, in turn, thus subject to the fiery soul of the lover, experiences anteros, a counterlove whose calm consent amounts to very filial affection […]"

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀντέρως (antérōs), reputedly coined by Plato. That in turn comes from ἀντί (antí, “against”) + ἔρως (érōs, “love”), hence the translation as counterlove.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.