Is THIS Love?

love
  /lʌv/ [luhv]
1.
a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2.
a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
3.
sexual passion or desire.
4.
a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.

I was looking up the definition of the word love [I know, I'm just weird like that] and I found these four definitions. Everyone at least once in their lives has asked themselves "what is true love?" and there are even a few people who feel they have already experienced it.

Some people have a straight, cookie-cutter short answer. While others describe it as "indescribable."

These mixed understandings of the term "love" lead me to a bunch of long-winding dead-end roads every time I try and find the answer to the question mentioned previously. If there are so many different definitions for love, then how is one supposed to know whether or not they are currently in or out of it? It can be described as passionate affection, but when a couple is too lovey dovey, that passion is considered fake and it usually burns out quick. It can be described as personal attachment...but then you have some people who absolutely hate their own blood. It can be described as sexual desire, but then you have many people that think sex should have nothing to do with whether or not you love someone. SO which is it?

Are those butterflies you tend to feel around that "special someone"' an indication that your heart is now shared with another person, or should it be a warning sign at the beginning of a pain filled road? Are those flames you initially felt SUPPOSED to fizzle out like a cheap 4th of july sparkler or are they supposed to burn on like the sun? Is the first person you ever fell in love with ACTUALLY the first person you ever fell in love with, or were they just the longest relationship you had ever been in up until then? Is being comfortable with someone considered being madly in love with them because you know they may be the one person that would never judge you for being you, or are they just that convenient part of a puzzle that has yet to be solved?

I've had many exes tell me they love me when I know they didn't mean it. likewise, I've had a select few rescind their initial undying love for me and tell me that they've never loved me [Which has an especially painful sting to it when it was someone I thought I loved.] What exactly does "falling in love" feel like, and how do you know that's what it feels like?

Idk, kinda just thinking out loud now. All I can be sure of is that I'm single and honestly not willing to fall in love until someone can tell me what it actually is.