50 Terms Of Endearment

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This selection of words used as terms of endearment over the past thousand years shows several items that have stood the test of time, notably darling and dear, and some recurring motifs, such as those from the semantic fields of taste and the animal kingdom. But several belong to their own time: bawcock and bully, for example, are encountered in Shakespeare.

• darling (c. 888) ⚜ dear (c. 1230) ⚜ sweetheart(c. 1290)
• heart (c. 1305) ⚜ honey (c. 1375) ⚜ dove (c. 1386)
• cinnamon; love (c. 1405) ⚜ mulling (c. 1475) ⚜ daisy (c. 1485)
• mouse (c. 1520) ⚜ whiting (c. 1529) ⚜ fool (c. 1530) ⚜ beautiful (1535)
• soul (c. 1538) ⚜ bully (1548) ⚜ lamb (c. 1556) ⚜ pussy (c. 1557)
• ding-ding (1564) ⚜ lover (1573) ⚜ pug (1580) ⚜ mopsy (1582)
• bun (1587) ⚜ wanton (1589) ⚜ ladybird (1597) ⚜ chuck (1598)
• sweetkin (1599) ⚜ duck; joy (1600) ⚜ sparrow (c. 1600)
• bawcock (c. 1601) ⚜ nutting (1606) ⚜ tickling (1607)
• bagpudding (1608) ⚜ dainty (1611) ⚜ flitter-mouse (1612) ⚜
• pretty (1616) ⚜ old thing (c. 1625) ⚜ duckling (1630) ⚜ sweetling (1648)
• pet (1767) ⚜ sweetie (1778) ⚜ cabbage (1840) ⚜ prawn (1895)
• so-and-so (1897) ⚜ pumpkin (1900) ⚜ pussums (1912)
• treasure (1920) ⚜ sugar (1930) ⚜ lamb-chop (1962)

Source ⚜ More: Word Lists ⚜ Notes: On Love ⚜ Love Advice ⚜ “I love you”
Word Lists: Love Pt. 1Pt. 2⚜Physiology of Love⚜Synonyms⚜Kinds of Love