The Definition of Love

I have officially decided to dedicate this research blog to love and the ideas surrounding love.  I want to not only figure out what it actually means, but I want to see how perceptions of love change based on a person's experiences.  For example, young vs. old, married vs. divorced, woman vs. man.  I first want to gain a foundation with some general definitions of love.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary considered love as
a feeling of strong, constant affection for a person, including sexual desire.  The strong desire felt by people who have a romantic relationship.

Wikipedia describes love as
a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes which range from impersonal affection, to pleasure.

The Urban Dictionary got a bit more satirical with their definition, stating love is
nature's way of tricking people into reproducing.
Lust is the desire for their body, love is the desire for their soul.
Love is giving someone the power to destroy and trusting them not to.
We think about it, sing about it, dream about it, lose sleep worrying about it.  When we don't have it, we search for it; when we discover it, we don't know what to do with it; when we have it, we fear losing it.  It is the constant source of pleasure and pain.  Be we can't predict which it will be from one moment to the next.  It is a short word, easy to spell, difficult to define, impossible to live without.

Dictionary.com defines love as
a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

The Oxford dictionary explains love as
an intense feeling of deep affection, a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone, and a great interest and pleasure in something.

From these definitions, I have determined that there are three fairly different types of love.  First, is the most obvious, the romantic form of love.  This love is between two people who have a strong desire for one another, an intense feeling of affection, and a desire for their soul.  Then, there is the love that is shared between parents and children, friends, and family members.  You have a warm personal attachment to these people.  Finally, there is love for things that bring a person pleasure.  For example, the love a person may have for a sport.  In this form of love, you have great interest in something and you receive pleasure from it.

I almost find, though, that the urban dictionary's definitions are more telling of this generation's view on love.  Love is more than just the sexual aspect; it is trusting a person with your true self, it is a feeling you should have with the person you have children with, it is confusing, and it is something you can not live without.  I wonder if when I ask other people my age, in their late teens, early twenties, if these won't be some of the definitions they bring up.

Most of these definitions, though, contradict the point stressed heavily by Levine, the author who wrote the article I discussed in my second blog post.  All of these definitions talk about love as a feeling rather than love made up of multiple feelings creating an emotion.   Which of these is true?  Is love a feeling or an emotion?