endearment

• indearment

endear +‎ -ment

endearment (plural endearments)

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, 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.

2. 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

3. 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

• dear

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