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, 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 more darling or (rare) darlinger, superlative most darling or 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.

• larding, Lingard, LDARing