honey

English

A jar of honey, with a honey dipper and scones

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English hony, honi, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English huniġ, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *hunagą (compare (deprecated template usage) [etyl] West Frisian hunich, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] German Honig), from earlier *hunangą (compare (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Swedish honung), from pre-Germanic *kn̥h₂onkós, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *kh₂ónks (gen. *kn̥h₂kós) (compare (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Welsh canecon (“gold”), Latin (pl.) canicae (“bran”), (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Tocharian B kronkśe (“bee”), (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Albanian qengjë (“beehive”), (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek κνηκός (knēkós, “pale yellow”)), (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  .

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈhʌni/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (US)

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Rhymes: -ʌni
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Hyphenation: hon‧ey

Adjective

honey (comparative more honey, superlative most honey)

1. Describing a thing involving or resembling honey.
   • 1599 William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 1, Sc. 2:

     So work the honey-bees, / Creatures that by a rule in nature teach / The act of order to a peopled kingdom.

2. A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like that of most types of honey.

Translations

involving or resembling honey

• Finnish: hunajainen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: медо́вый (ru) (medóvyj)

honey-colored

• Finnish: hunajankeltainen
• Greek: μελής (el) (melís)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: mieriu (ro)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} medeni (sh)

Noun

honey (usually uncountable, plural honeys)

1. (uncountable) A viscous, sweet fluid produced from plant nectar by bees. Often used to sweeten tea or to spread on baked goods.
2. (countable) A variety of this substance.
3. (figuratively) Something sweet or desirable.
   • 1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3, lines 91–93:

     O my love, my wife! / Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath / Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.

   • Shakespeare

     the honey of his language

4. (non-gloss definition, A term of affection.)

   Honey, would you take out the trash?

   Honey, I'm home.

5. (countable, informal) A woman, especially an attractive one.

   Man, there are some fine honeys here tonight!

6. A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like that of most types of (the sweet substance) honey.

   honey:  

Synonyms

• (sweet fluid from bees): mel
• (term of affection): sweetie

Hypernyms

• food

Hyponyms

Hyponyms of honey (noun)

• blended honey
• comb honey
• creamed honey
• crystallised/crystallized honey
• dried honey

• filtered honey
• honeycomb
• honeydew honey
• honey extractor
• monofloral honey

• pasteurised honey
• polyfloral honey
• raw honey
• strained honey
• ultrasonicated honey

Translations

sweet substance produced by bees

• Abkhaz: ацха (acxa)
• Adyghe: шъоу (šʷowu), суэу (sɛwu)
• Afrikaans: heuning
• Akkadian: 𒋭 (dišpu)
• Albanian: mjaltë (sq)
• Amharic: ማር (mar)
• Arabic: عَسَل (ar) m (ʕasal), شَهْد (ar) m (šahd)

  Egyptian Arabic: عسل m (ʕásal)

• Aragonese: miel f
• Aramaic:

  Syriac:

  Aramaic: דבשא m (dibšā)

• Armenian: մեղր (hy) (meġr)

  Old Armenian: մեղր (mełr)

• Aromanian: njari f, njare f
• Asturian: miel m
• Aymara: misk'i (ay)
• Azeri: bal (az)
• Baluchi: شہد (šahad), بینگ (benag)
• Bashkir: бал (bal)
• Basque: ezti
• Belarusian: мёд (be) m (mjod)
• Bengali: মধু (môdhu)
• Berber:

  Tashelhit: tammnt f

• Breton: mel (br) m
• Bulgarian: мед (bg) m (med)
• Burmese: ပျားရည် (my) (pya:rany)
• Buryat: бал (bal), зүгын бал (zügyn bal)
• Catalan: mel (ca) f
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵜⴰⵎⵎⵏⵜ f (tammnt)
• Chamicuro: mishki
• Chechen: моз (moz)
• Cherokee: ᏩᏚᎵᏏ (wadulisi)
• Cheyenne: háhnomápano'ėhasēō'o
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 蜂蜜 (fung¹ mat⁶), 蜜糖 (mat⁶ tong⁴)

  Dungan: please add this translation if you can

  Hakka: 蜂糖 (phûng-thòng, fûng-thòng)

  Mandarin: 蜂蜜 (zh) (fēngmì), 蜜 (zh) (mì), 蜂糖 (zh) (fēngtáng)

  Min Nan: 蜂蜜 (zh-min-nan) (phang-bi̍t), 蜜 (bi̍t)

• Cornish: mel m
• Corsican: mele
• Crimean Tatar: bal
• Czech: med (cs) m
• Dalmatian: mil m
• Danish: honning (da)
• Dargwa: варъа (varʾa)
• Darkinjung: kûdyung
• Dhivehi: މާމުއި (māmui)
• Dutch: honing (nl) m
• Erzya: медь (meď), поназ (ponaz)
• Esperanto: mielo (eo)
• Estonian: mesi (et)
• Ewe: anyĩtsi
• Faroese: hunangur m, hunang n
• Finnish: hunaja (fi)
• French: miel (fr) m
• Frisian:

  North Frisian: honning m

  Saterland Frisian: Huunich m

  West Frisian: huning (fy) m

• Friulian: mîl f
• Galician: mel (gl) m
• Gamilaraay: warrul
• Georgian: თაფლი (tapli)
• German: Honig (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌼𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌸 n (miliþ)
• Greek: μέλι (el) n (méli)
• Guaraní: eirete
• Gujarati: મધુ (madhu)
• Hawaiian: meli
• Hebrew: דבש (he) m (dvash)
• Hindi: मधु m (madhu), शहद m (śahd)
• Hungarian: méz (hu)
• Icelandic: hunang (is) n
• Ido: mielo (io)
• Indonesian: madu (id)
• Interlingua: melle
• Interlingue:
• Inuktitut: missuuttagaq (missuuttagaq)
• Irish: mil (ga) f

  Old Irish: mil f

• Istro-Romanian: mľåre f
• Italian: miele (it) m
• Japanese: 蜂蜜 (ja) (はちみつ, hachimitsu)
• Jarawa: lə:w
• Norman: myi m
• Kabardian: фо (fo)
• Kalmyk: бал (bal)
• Kannada: ಜೇನು (kn) (jēnu)
• Kashubian: miód m
• Kazakh: бал (bal)
• Khmer: ទឹកឃ្មុំ (tɨk khmum)
• Kinyarwanda: ubuki class 14
• Korean: 꿀 (ko) (kkul), 밀 (ko) (蜜, mil)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kyrgyz: бал (ky) (bal)
• Ladin: mil
• Ladino:

  Hebrew: מייל f

  Latin: myel f

• Lao: ມະທຸ (ma thu), ນ້ຳເຜີ້ງ (nam phœ̄ng)
• Latgalian: mads m
• Latin: mel (la) n
• Latvian: medus (lv) m
• Ligurian: amê
• Limburgish: heuning (li) m
• Lithuanian: medus (lt) m, medùs (lt) m
• Lojban:
• Luxembourgish: Hunneg m
• Macedonian: мед m (med)
• Malagasy: fandrama (mg)
• Malay: madu, air lebah
• Malayalam: തേൻ (ml) (tēṉ)
• Maltese: għasel m
• Mansi:
• Manx: mill m
• Marathi: मध m (madh)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari:

• Megleno-Romanian: m'ari f
• Mongolian: бал (mn) (bal), зөийн бал (zöiin bal)
• Navajo: tsísʼná bitłʼizh
• Neapolitan: mmiele n
• Nepali: मह (maha)
• Ngazidja Comorian: ndjizi ya nyoshi
• Northern Sami: miehta
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: honning (no) m

  Nynorsk: honning m

• Occitan: mèl (oc) m or f
• Old Church Slavonic: мєдъ m (medŭ)
• Old English: huniġ n
• Old Norse: hunang n
• Oromo: damma (om)
• Ossetian: (Digor) муд (mud), (Iron) мыд (myd)
• Pashto: ګبينه (gabīnâ), شات (ps) (šāt)
• Persian: عسل (fa) (asal), انگبین (fa) (angebin, angobin), انگوین (angovin), شهد (fa) (šahd)
• Polish: miód (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: mel (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਸ਼ਹਿਦ (śahid)
• Quechua: misk'i
• Romanian: miere (ro) f
• Romansch: mel m, mel d'avieuls m, mèl m, mèl d'aviuls m, meal m, mêl m, meil d'aviöls m
• Russian: мёд (ru) m (mjod)
• Rusyn: мед m (med)
• Sanskrit: मधु n (madhu)
• Sardinian: mele
• Scottish Gaelic: mil f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ме̑д m

  Roman: mȇd (sh) m

• Shor: пал (pal)
• Sicilian: meli (scn) m
• Sinhalese: පැණි (pæṇi), පැනි (pæni)
• Slovak: med m
• Slovene: med (sl) m
• Somali: malab m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: mjod m

  Upper Sorbian: měd m

• Spanish: miel (es) f
• Svan: თვი (tvi)
• Swahili: uki (sw) class 11, asali (sw)
• Swedish: honung (sv) c
• Tagalog: pulut-pukyutan
• Tajik: асал (tg) (asal)
• Talysh: (Asalemi) عسل (asal)
• Tamil: தேன் (ta) (tēṉ)
• Tatar: бал (tt) (bal)
• Telugu: తేనె (te) (tēne)
• Tetum: bani-been
• Thai: น้ำผึ้ง (th) (nám pêung)
• Tupinambá: eíra, eireté
• Turkish: bal (tr)
• Turkmen: bal (tk)
• Ugaritic: 𐎐𐎁𐎚 (nbt)
• Ukrainian: мед m (med), мід m (mid)
• Umbundu: owiki
• Urdu: مدھو m (madhu), شہد m (šahd), عسل m ('asal), انگبین m (angabīn)
• Uyghur: ھەسەل (hesel)
• Uzbek: asal (uz)
• Venetian: miel m
• Vietnamese: mật ong (vi)
• Volapük: miel (vo)
• Walloon: låme (wa) f
• Welsh: mêl (cy) m
• Western Apache: gosnih
• Yakut: мүөт (müöt)
• Yiddish: האָניק m (honik)

variety of honey

• Finnish: hunaja (fi), hunajalaatu (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

something sweet or desirable

• Finnish: makeus (fi)
• Spanish: dulzura f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swahili: asali (sw)

term of affection

• Arabic: حَبِيبِي (ar) (ḥabībī)
• Armenian: սիրելիս (sirelis)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 寶貝／宝贝 (bǎobèi), 宝贝 (zh) (bǎobèi), 親愛的／亲爱的 (zh) (qīn'ài de), 亲爱的 (qīn'àide), 哈你 (hānǐ)

• Dutch: schat (nl) m, schatje (nl) n
• Erzya: вечкемнем (večkemńem)
• Esperanto: karulo, karulino
• Estonian: kallis (et)
• Finnish: kulta (fi), kultanen
• French: chéri (fr) m, chérie (fr) f
• German: Schatz (de) m
• Greek: γλύκα (el) f (glýka), γλυκιά (el) f (glykiá)
• Icelandic: elskan f
• Italian: carino (it) m, tesoro (it) m, gioia (it) f
• Korean: 애인 (ko)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

• Luxembourgish: Schazi, Häerzi
• Macedonian: шеќерче n (šeḱerče)
• Malay: sayang (ms)
• Polish: kochanie (pl)
• Portuguese: querida (pt) f, querido (pt) m
• Romanian: iubit (ro) m, iubită (ro) f, drag (ro) m, dragă (ro) f
• Russian: ду́шенька (ru) f (dúšenʹka), голу́бушка (ru) f (golúbuška), ми́лая (ru) f (mílaja)
• Scottish Gaelic: rùn m, rùnag f
• Slovak: miláčik m
• Spanish: cariño (es), tesoro (es) m
• Swahili: asali (sw)
• Swedish: älskling (sv) c
• Turkish: balım (tr), tatlım

informal: attractive woman

• Finnish: misu (fi)
• Polish: laska (pl) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swahili: asali (sw)

colour

• Crimean Tatar: bal
• Finnish: hunajankeltainen
• Greek: μελί n (melí), μελόχρουν n (melóchroun)
• Polish: (kolor (pl)) miodowy (pl)
• Portuguese: mel (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: mieriu (ro)
• Russian: медо́вый (ru) (medóvyj)
• Spanish: miel (es) f
• Swahili: asali (sw)
• Turkish: bal rengi (tr)

Verb

honey (third-person singular simple present honeys, present participle honeying, simple past and past participle honeyed)

1. To be gentle, agreeable, or coaxing; to talk fondly; to use endearments.
   • Shakespeare

     Honeying and making love.

2. To be or become obsequiously courteous or complimentary; to fawn.
   • Tennyson

     Rough to common men, / But honey at the whisper of a lord.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• hon
• honeybee
• honeybun
• honey-buzzard
• honeycomb

• honeycombed
• honeycreeper
• honeydew
• honeyeater
• honeyed

• honeymoon
• honeysucker
• honeysuckle
• honey-sweet

Related terms

Related terms

• honey badger
• honey bear
• honey bucket
• honey bun
• honey bunch
• honey decoction
• honey dipper

• honey drizzler
• honey fungus
• honey guide
• honey locust
• honey mesquite
• honey mouse
• honey myrtle

• honey parrot
• honey plant
• honey-buzzard
• honeycomb moth
• honeydew melon
• land of milk and honey
• western honey mesquite

See also

• Appendix:Colors

other entries of interest

• apis mellifica
• diabetes mellitus
• hydromel

• melilot
• melliferous

• mellifluous
• melliphagous

• mellitic acid
• molasses
• oenomel