endearment

Etymology

It is formed from English endear + -ment.^[2][3][4][5] The verb, recorded from the 1580s, is formed in turn from en- (“make, put in”) and the adjective dear,^[2][3] which is from Old English dēore (“precious, valuable; beloved”), from Proto-Germanic *deurja-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of raising the value of something, and so praise or exaggeration: 1612, in Shelton's translation of Don-Quixote.^[3][4] Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1610,^[6][7] Etymonline to the 1610s, as "act of endearing",^[2] and Dictionary.com to 1605–15.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The noun followed the changing senses of its verb, which first meant to raise the value of something and to win affection; its main modern sense, to make dear, dates from the 1640s.^[2] The earliest sense, enhancement, lasted until 1702.^[3] From 1628 to 1677 the word also meant an obligation of gratitude, a bond of attachment.^[3][2] The mid 17th century added the act of endearing and a thing that endears.^[3][4] Johnson (1755) defined it as the cause of love and as the state of being loved.^[8] The sense that now prevails, an action or utterance showing love, is recorded from 1702, in Rowe's Tamerlane.^[3][2] Endearment as affection or fondness itself ran from 1709 to 1821,^[3] and a rare use, the making of a commodity dearer, appears in 1864.^[3]

Timeline

• 1612 – enhancement of value, praise, exaggeration (obsolete by 1702).^[3]
• 1628 – an obligation of gratitude, a bond of attachment (obsolete by 1677).^[3] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1620s.^[2]
• 1663 – the action of endearing; something that causes affection.^[3]
• 1702 – an action or utterance expressing love; a caress.^[3][2]
• 1709 – affection, fondness (obsolete by 1821).^[3]
• 1864 – the making of a commodity dearer (rare).^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A word or an act that expresses affection, such as a caress: She whispered endearments to the sleeping child.^[7][9][10]
2. The act or process of making someone or something dear, or the state of being made dear.^[7][9][3]
3. Something that makes a person or thing dear to others.^[3][9][6]
4. (rare) The making of a commodity more expensive.^[3]
5. (obsolete, 1612–1702) Enhancement of value; exaggeration.^[3][4][6]
6. (obsolete, 1628–77) An obligation of gratitude.^[3][4][6]
7. (obsolete, 1709–1821) Fondness.^[3][4]

Related words

• dear
• endear

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt