darling
UK /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/ · US /ˈdɑɹlɪŋ/ noun, adjective, verb, proper noun
Forms darlings darlinger darlingest darlinging darlinged darlin' darlint dearling
- noun Often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one. “Pass the wine, would you, darling?”
- noun A person who is kind, sweet, etc., and thus lovable; a pet, a sweetheart; also, an animal or thing which is cute and lovable. “The girl next door picks up all my shopping for me. She is such a darling.”
- noun A favourite.
- noun The favourite child in a family. “Mary, the youngest daughter, was always her mother’s darling.”
- noun (by extension) A person (often a woman) or thing that is very popular with a certain group of people. “a media darling”
- noun (obsolete) A royal favourite, the intimate companion of a monarch or other royal personage, often delegated significant political power.
- adjective Very dear; beloved, cherished, favourite. “She is my darling wife of twenty-two years.”
- adjective (affected) Very cute or lovable; adorable, charming, sweet. “Well, isn’t that a darling little outfit she has on?”
- verb (transitive, informal) To call (someone) "darling" (noun sense 1).
- proper noun An English and Scottish surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname from darling.
- proper noun A small town in the Western Cape province, South Africa.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Quitman County, Mississippi, United States.
- proper noun A major river of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia; Named after Governor Ralph Darling, British colonial administrator.
- proper noun Synonym of Baagandji; Ellipsis of Darling language; The Australian aboriginal language spoken along this river in New South Wales.
Synonyms
darl babber babe precious bae baby babycakes bubba bully buttercup cabbage chickabiddy chickadee chuck cupcake cutie dag dear dear heart dearest favorite favourite pet dearie deary ducky Darling River beloved
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English dereling, derelyng (“beloved person; beloved of God, devout Christian”), from Old English dīerling, dēorling (“favourite, darling; minion”), from Proto-West Germanic *diuriling, from Proto-Germanic *diurijalingaz, from *diurijaz (“beloved, dear; expensive”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“hot, warm; to burn”), or *dweh₂- (“distant, long; to remove, separate”)) + *-ilingaz (suffix forming (diminutive) nouns with the sense of ‘belonging to; coming from’). By surface analysis, dear + -ling (suffix meaning ‘immature; small’).
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun. The verb is also derived from the noun.
From darling.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One dearly beloved; a favorite.
- adjective Dearly beloved; regarded with especial kindness and tenderness; favorite. "Some darling science." I. Watts. "Darling sin." Macaulay.
Etymology [OE. derling, deorling, AS. deórling; deóre dear + -ling. See Dear, and -ling.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “darling”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details