The verb "to love" in Basque is "maitatu" or "maite izan", not only "maite" (just as "to look" in English is not "to look for"). They are related words, obviously, but the meaning is not the same for the two.
You can check the meaning of
Maite ("beloved") at Euskaltzaindia website (Euskaltzaindia is the Academy of the Basque Language).
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com