Endearment

Alternative forms

• indearment

Origin

endear + -ment

Full definition of endearment

Noun

1. The act or process of endearing, of causing (something or someone) to be loved or to be the object of affection.
• 1913, William MacLeod Raine, The Vision Splendid, ch. 20:Every step of that walk led Jeff deeper into an excursion of endearment. It was amazingly true that he trod beside her an acknowledged friend, a secret lover.
2. The state or characteristic of being endeared.
• 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South, ch. 38:He could not forget the fond and earnest look that had passed between her and some other man—the attitude of familiar confidence, if not of positive endearment.
3. An expression of affection.
• 1902, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, The Conqueror, ch. 18:When they were alone he called him "my boy," an endearment he never gave another.

Synonyms

• (state or characteristic of being endeared) belovedness
• (expression of affection) term of endearment

Related terms

• dear