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sweeting

sweeting

2 9.9
An old-fashioned name for a person you love or a small sweet apple
  • noun
  • /ˈswitɪŋ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : querido
  • She called him her sweeting as they danced under the stars.

Examples

  • We'll not be troubled by nightmares again, sweeting.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I know it hurt, sweeting.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Come now, sweeting, go play with Eila.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • I ate a ten-day's worth of sweeting once, but Sky Eyes said nothing.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • No further, pretty sweeting.

  • All's well now, sweeting.

  • During the winter festivities, he surprised his sweeting with a handmade gift.

  • In old stories, the hero often seeks his sweeting after daring adventures.

Synonyms

sweet pea
vssweeting
  • Baby Talk
8 3.0

A loving name adults use for a child or pet

is used for romantic partners rather than for children or pets
dearling
vssweeting
  • Archaic
9.9

A person you love and care about a lot

is used mainly for romantic partners rather than any beloved person
sweetling
vssweeting
  • Archaic
8.1

A loving name for someone you care about

is used mainly for romantic partners rather than any affectionate person

How Affectionate

beloved
19 3.4
darling
  • Informal
45 1.8
sweetheart
  • Informal
1.0
sweeting
  • Archaic
2 9.9
dear
  • Informal
29 1.0

Surface Forms

sweeting singular
sweetings plural

Morphology

sweeting = sweet (semi-transparent) = sweet + ing

The form is built from 'sweet' plus '-ing', but the sense 'sweetheart' is not a fully predictable modern derivation, while the apple sense is more directly motivated.

Etymology

Sweeting comes from the simple word sweet ('pleasant, sugary') plus the old ending -ing, which was used to make a small or friendly form. So a sweeting is like a 'little sweet one' — a sweetheart, and the same idea was used for a 'sweet apple'.