<3

What Does <3 Mean?

The emoticon <3 means "Love" or "I Love You."

The characters < and 3 (which together mean "less than three") form a picture of a heart on its side and are used as an emoticon, meaning "love" or "I love you." For example:

Sam: <3.
Ali: <3 you too.

Toni: Do you like the flowers?
Jordan: I <3 them.

Why Is a Heart "Heart-Shaped"?

You will know from your biology lessons that a human heart is not heart-shaped. Nevertheless, the classic heart shape (♥) is recognized globally as being a heart. The origin of the heart shape is difficult to determine. There are three leading theories:

(Theory 1): The heart shape comes from the shape of ivy leaves, which are linked to fidelity.
(Theory 2): The heart shape comes from the shape of breasts and the buttocks.
(Theory 3): The heart shape comes from the silphium plant (a giant fennel), which the ancient Greeks and Romans used as an early form of birth control. (Silphium's seed pod is heart-shaped.)

Why Does a Heart Mean Love?

The heart is globally recognized as a symbol of love, but why?

Born around 424 BCE, the Greek philosopher Plato was among the first to claim that the heart was linked to our strongest emotions, including love. His observations undoubtedly derived from noting that our hearts beat in concert with emotions such as fear, anger, rage, pain, and love.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle expanded on Plato's finding, claiming that the heart ruled over all human processes, not just emotions. Ever since, we have continued to associate love with our hearts.

More Terms Like <3

The emoticon <3 has inspired many other icons linked to love. For example:

Learn lots more ways of saying "I love you" online.

Image for <3

When I write <3, I mean this: meaning of <3

<3 is a heart lying on its side. It means "love."

Video Summarizing the Different Ways of Saying "I Love You"

Summary of Key Points

"Love" is the most common definition for <3 on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

<3
Definition:	Love
Type:	Icon
Guessability:	1: Easy to guess
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

More...

An Academic Look at <3

<3 is classified as an emoticon. Emoticons are a way to show emotion in text-based communication. They consist of a small group of symbols arranged to show emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, and others, using the letters, numbers, and symbols usually found on a standard keyboard in a typographic approximation of the desired illustration.

Using Numbers in Texts

This video shows the different ways that numbers are used in "text speak":

Example of <3 Used in a Text

Help Us Improve Cyber Definitions

Do you disagree with something on this page?
Did you spot a typo?
Do you know a slang term that we've missed?

Please tell us using this form.

Trending Pages

<3