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Lovage is a perennial plant, the sole species in the genus Levisticum in the family Apiaceae. It is native to Afghanistan and Iran. It has been long cultivated in Europe, and the leaves are used as a herb, the roots as a vegetable, and the seeds as a spice. The name lovage is from love-ache, ache being a medieval name for parsley, a folk-etymological modification of the older French name levesche.

The roots, which contain a heavy volatile oil, are used as a mild aquaretic. Lovage contains approximately 2% of a volatile oil responsible for its characteristic odour and flavour. The oil contains primarily phthalide lactones, including 3-butylphthalide, cis- and trans-butyldenephthalide, cis- and trans-ligustilide, sen-kyunolide and angeolide. The main constituent and odour-determining component of the root oil is ligustilide, or 3-butylidene-4,5-dihydrophthalide. The main constituent of the leaf oil is α-terpinyl acetate. Several of the compounds found in lovage have also been detected in celery. The oils are produced on a relatively small scale, for example in Hungary.

Essential oil distilled from lovage root contains furanocoumarins, which can lead to photosensitivity in sensitive individuals if ingested as a medicine or applied to the skin.

Lovage is a traditional spice in Southern Europe whose usage dates back to antiquity. Lovage was one of the most prominent flavours in Roman cookery. A recommendation to cultivate lovage on the agricultural properties of Charlemagne appears in chapter 70 of Capitulare de villis, a text written around 800 AD about the maintenance of royal estates.

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