noun

• A favourite.
  "a media darling"
• A favourite.
  "When kyng Henry perceiued, that the cõmons [commons] wer thus ſtomacked and bent, againſt the Quenes [Margaret of Anjou's] dearlynge William [de la Pole,] Duke of Suffolke, he plainly ſawe, that neither gloſyng woulde ſette, nor diſſimulacion coulde appeace, the continuall clamor of the importunate cõmons: Wherefore to begyn a ſhorte pacificacion in to long a broyle."

adj

• (affected) Very cute or lovable; adorable, charming, sweet.
  "Well, isn’t that a darling little outfit she has on?"

verb

• (transitive, informal) To call (someone) "darling" (noun sense 1).
  "The frisky female, we have noticed, has one most unpleasant trick; it is that of darlinging and duckeying and otherwise spooneying her husband … in public. He is invariably, invariably set down as an ass, without its being in the least his fault."