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.

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.

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

• dear

• endearment at OneLook Dictionary Search