From Middle English derelyng, from Old English dīerling, corresponding to dear + -ling.

• (RP) IPA: /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/
• (America) enPR: där'lĭng, IPA: /ˈdɑɹlɪŋ/

darling (plural darlings)

1. A person who is dear to one.

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

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: Thesaurus:sweetheart

   Pass the wine, would you, darling?

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

• French: chéri, chérie
• German: Liebling, Schatz, Schätzchen
• Italian: tesoro, amore
• Portuguese: querido, querida
• Russian: возлю́бленный
• Spanish: querido, querida, amado, amada

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.

• French: chéri, chérie
• Italian: caro
• Portuguese: querido, amado
• Russian: дорого́й
• Spanish: querido, amado

• Italian: caro
• Portuguese: encantador
• Russian: очарова́тельный
• Spanish: encantador

• (RP) IPA: /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/

1. Surname, originally a nickname from darling.
   • 2005, Michael Dowling, Jürgen Schmude, Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufsess, Advances in Interdisciplinary European Entrepreneurship Research:

     Richard and David Darling, founders of Codemasters, a multimillion-pound computer game company, dropped out of school aged 15 and 16 to write computer games […]

2. A major river of Queensland and New South Wales, named for Governor Ralph Darling.
3. The Australian aboriginal language Baagandji, spoken along this river in New South Wales.
4. A small town in Western Cape, South Africa.
5. CDP in Quitman County, Mississippi.