darling

• darlin' (informal)
• dearling

From Middle English derelyng, from Old English dīerling (“darling, favorite, minion; also household god”), corresponding to dear +‎ -ling.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/
• (General American) enPR: där'lĭng, IPA^(key): /ˈdɑɹlɪŋ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: Darling
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)lɪŋ

darling (plural darlings)

1. A person who is dear to one.

   Mary, the youngest daughter, was always her mother's darling.

   • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

     But Richmond, his grandfather's darling, after one thoughtful glance cast under his lashes at that uncompromising countenance appeared to lose himself in his own reflections.

2. A kind, sweet, or lovable person; sweetheart.

   The girl next door picks up all my shopping for me. She is such a darling.

3. An affectionate term of address.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sweetheart

   Pass the wine, would you, darling?

   • 1969, Paul McCartney (lyrics and music), “Oh! Darling”, in Abbey Road, performed by The Beatles:

     Oh! Darling, please believe me / I'll never do you no harm

   • 1972, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “A Case of You”, in Blue:

     Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling / Still I'd be on my feet

4. A favourite.
   1. (obsolete) A royal favourite, the intimate companion of a king or other royal personage, often delegated significant political power.
   2. The favourite child in a family.
      • 1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 4:

        Exhausted fathers thinned the blood,
        You curse the legacy of pain;
        Darling of an infected brood,
        You feel disaster climb the vein.

   3. (by extension) A person or thing, now often a woman, who is very popular with a given group of people.

      a media darling

      a darling of the theatre

      • 2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian‎:

        One of the darlings of the early vegetarian movement (particularly in its even sadder form, the cutlet), it was on the menu at John Harvey Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium^[sic], and has since become the default Sunday option for vegetarians – and a default source of derision for everyone else.

• darlinghood
• kill one's darlings
• media darling

darling (comparative darlinger, superlative darlingest)

1. Dear; cherished.

   She is my darling wife of twenty-two years.

2. Charming, very cute.

   Well isn't that a darling little outfit she has on.

darlinger is rarely used.

• Lingard, larding