endearment
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
endearment (plural endearments)
- 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, chapter 20, in The Vision Splendid:
- 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.
- The state or characteristic of being endeared.
- 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 38, in North and South:
- 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.
- Synonym: belovedness
- An expression of affection.
- 1902, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, chapter 18, in The Conqueror:
- When they were alone he called him "my boy," an endearment he never gave another.
- Synonym: term of endearment
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
act or process of endearing
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state of being endeared
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an expression of affection
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ReferencesEdit
- endearment at OneLook Dictionary Search