Do you know the definition of ILY? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the acronym ILY, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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May 27, 2021
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Common Questions
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What does the abbreviation ILY stand for?
According to Grammarly and Urban Dictionary, the initialism ILY stands for “I love you.” This slang term is often used on social media and in SMS text messages to tell someone that you love them. This is also sometimes represented as ILU. If you are messaging with someone and they say ILY, you can reply ILY2! Try using this word of the day or other new words in a sentence today! Make sure it is a casual situation, as ILY is not appropriate for professional or formal use, nor is most internet slang.
According to The Free Dictionary, ILY has a few alternate definitions, those these are less common than “I love you.” If you do decide to use one of these alternate definitions make sure that you provide the reader with the proper context so that they can discern the intended meaning.
- I’m Leaving You
- I Like You
- International Literacy Year
- I Loathe You
- Islay, Scotland, United Kingdom – Glenegedale (Airport Code)
How can you say “I love you” in other languages?
There are many different languages that also have phrases that mean I love you. These are very useful to know if you are traveling in a foreign country as well as if you are talking to someone who does not speak English. This list of translations for “I love you” is provided by Word Sense.
- Hungarian: szeretlek
- Adangme: i suɔ mo
- Turkish: seni seviyorum, sana aşığım
- Breton: da garan, da garout a ran, me da gar
- Georgian: მე შენ მიყვარხარ, მიყვარხარ
- Faroese: eg elski teg
- Interlingua: io te adora, io vos adora
- Azeri: səni sevirəm
- Persian: دوستت دارم (dústat dâram), من دوستت دارم
- Lithuanian: aš tave myliu
- Kyrgyz: мен сени сүйөм
- French: je t’aime (informal singular), je vous aime (formal or plural)
- German: ich mag dich, ich liebe dich, Ich habe dich lieb
- Danish: jeg elsker dig
- Cornish: My a’th kar
- Kabyle: (to a male) Hamlaγk, (to a female) Hamlaγkem
- Ukrainian: Я тебе кохаю
- Cantonese: 我愛你, 我爱你 (ngo5 oi3 nei5) (formal, written), 我好鍾意你 (ngo5 hou2 zung1 ji3 nei5) (colloquial)
- Samoan: ʻou te alofa iate ʻoe
- Romanian: te iubesc, te ador
- Maltese: inħobbok
- Thai: ฉันรักเธอ (chǎn rák təə)
- Hebrew: (male to female) אֲנִי אוֹהֵב אוֹתָךְ (aní ohév otákh), (female to male) אֲנִי אוֹהֵבֵת אוֹתְךָ (aní ohévet otkhá), (male to male) אֲנִי אוֹהֵב אוֹתְךָ (aní ohév otkhá), (female to female) אֲנִי אוֹהֵבֵת אוֹתָךְ (aní ohévet otákh)
- Alutiiq: qunukamken
- Vietnamese: bố thương con (father to child), con thương bố (child to father), mẹ thương con (mother to child), (child to mother) con thương mẹ
- Welsh: rydw i’n dy garu di
- Swahili: ninakupenda
- Wu: 我愛儂, 我爱侬 (ngu e non)
- Cyrillic: волим те, ја те волим
- Slovene: (male speaker) rad te imam, (female speaker) rada te imam, (male speaker, two listeners) rad vaju imam, (female speaker, two listeners) rada vaju imam, (male speaker, more than two listeners) rad vas imam, (female speaker, more than two listeners) rada vas imam
- Scottish Gaelic: (familiar) Tha gaol agam ort, (formal/plural) Tha gaol agam oirbh
- Catalan: t’estimo, t’estime, t’estim
- Old Norse: ek elska þik
- Nahuatl: nimitztlazohtla
- Swedish: jag älskar dig
- Ido: me amas tu
- Egyptian Arabic: بحبك (baḥebbak) (to a male), بحبك (baḥebbik) (to a female)
- Quechua: munayki
- Greenlandic: asavakkit
- Dutch: Ik hou van je, (both romantic and platonic) Ik hou van jou
- Asturian: te quiero
- Irish: tá grá agam duit
- Finnish: rakastan sinua
- Romansch: jau hai tai gugent
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Tagalog: mahal kita, iniibig kita
- Hiligaynon: palangga ta ka
- Spanish: te adoro, te amo, os adoro, os amo, les amo, les adoro
- Min Nan: 我愛汝, 我爱汝 (goá ài lí)
- Macedonian: те сакам
- Yup’ik: kenkamken
- Polish: kocham cię
- Norwegian: jeg er glad i deg
- Northern Sami: mun ráhkistan du
- Chinese:
- Hijazi Arabic: أحبك (aḥubbak) (to a male), أحبك (aḥubbik) (to a female)
- Roman: vȍlīm te, ja te volim
- Udmurt: мон тонэ яратӥсько
- Arabic: أُحِبُّكَ (formal, to a male); أُحِبَّك (informal, to a male); أُحِبُّكِ (formal, to a female); أُحِبِّك (informal, to a female)
- Gulf Arabic: اَحِبِّكْ (əħɪbbɪk) (to a male), اَحِبِّچْ (əħɪbbɪt͡ʃ) (to a female)
- Portuguese: adoro-te (Portugal), te amo (Brazil), amo você
- Icelandic: ég elska þig
- Esperanto: mi amas vin
- Sorani: من تۆم خۆش ئەوێ
- Greek: σε αγαπώ
- Bulgarian: оби́чам те
- Belarusian: я цябе́ каха́ю
- Erzya: вечктян, мон тонь вечктян
- Czech: (informal) Mám tě rád
- Albanian: të dua
- Uzbek: men sizni sevaman
- Pipil: nimetztasujta
- Kurdish:
- Navajo: ayóóʼánííníshʼní
- Latin: tē amō
- Italian: (informal singular) ti voglio bene, (plural or formal) Vi voglio bene
- Malay: aku sayang akan engkau
- Korean: 사랑해요 (casual polite)
- Estonian: ma armastan sind
- Mandarin: 我愛你, 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ)
- Japanese: 大好き (だいすき, daisuki)
- Russian: я тебя́ люблю́
- Cebuano: nahigugma ko nimo, gihigugma ti ka
- Sotho: kea u rata
- South Azerbaijani: من سنی سویرم (men seni sevirem)
- Luxembourgish: ech hunn dech gär
- Indonesian: aku sayang kamu, aku menyayangimu, aku mengasihimu, aku cinta padamu
- Galician: quérote, quérovos (pl.), ámote, ámovos (pl.)
How can ILY be used in a sentence?
ILY can be used in many different casual circumstances to express love for someone else. Here, Sarah is about to take off for study abroad. She texts her mom.
Sarah: About to take off, shutting off my phone! ILY!
Mom: ILY2!
Overall, the abbreviation ILY stands for “I love you.” This trending slang term is used in SMS text messaging and on social media to tell someone that you love them.
Sources:
- https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/ILY#:~:text=I%20Love%20You,I’m%20Leaving%20You
- https://www.wordsense.eu/I_love_you/
- https://www.grammarly.com/blog/ily-meaning/#:~:text=Ily%20is%20an%20abbreviation%20of,when%20texting%20or%20instant%20messaging.
- https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ily
