A term of endearment is a word or phrase used to address or describe a person, animal or inanimate object for which the speaker feels love or affection.Terms of endearment are used for a variety of reasons, such as parents addressing their children and lovers addressing each other.ome words are clearly derived from each other, such as sweetheart and sweetie, while others bear no etymological resemblance, such as baby, babe, and cutie. Honey has been documented as a term of endearment from at least the 14th century.