honey

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by ToilBot (talk | contribs) as of 08:14, 31 December 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Honey

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A jar of honey, with a honey dipper and scones

Etymology

From Middle English hony, honi, from Old English huniġ, from Proto-Germanic *hunagą (compare West Frisian hunich, German Honig), from earlier *hunangą (compare Swedish honung), from Proto-Indo-European *kn̥h₂onk-o-s, from *kn̥h₂ónks. Cognate with Middle Welsh canecon (“gold”), Latin canicae pl (“bran”), Tocharian B kronkśe (“bee”), Albanian qengjë (“beehive”), Ancient Greek κνῆκος (knêkos, “safflower”), Kurdish.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhʌni/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌni
  • Hyphenation: hon‧ey

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.
    • 1908, United States. Bureau of Chemistry, Bulletin‎[1], numbers 110-114:
      The physical properties of the different honeys, color, granulation, aroma, flavor, etc., are indicated in the table only in a very general way.
    • 1949, Roy A. Grout, editor, The Hive and the Honey Bee‎[2]:
      If two of the California honeys, western hyssop and fleabane, having a positive polarization at 200 C. are disregarded, then the remaining...
    • 2011, Stephen Taylor, Advances in Food and Nutrition Research‎[3], volume 62:
      Eucalyptus honeys could be characterized based on seven volatile compounds, whereas lavender honeys had only five...
  3. (rare) Nectar.
  4. (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.
    • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      the honey of his language
  5. A term of affection.
    Honey, would you take out the trash?
    Honey, I'm home.
  6. (countable, informal) A woman, especially an attractive one.
    Man, there are some fine honeys here tonight!
  7. A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like that of most types of (the sweet substance) honey.
    honey:  

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Hyponyms of honey (noun)

Template:hyp-mid3

Template:hyp-mid3

Descendants

  • Sranan Tongo: oni

Translations

Adjective

honey (not comparable)

  1. Involving or resembling honey.
    • 1599 William Shakespeare, Henry V, act 1, scene 2:
      So work the honey-bees, / Creatures that by a rule in nature teach / The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
  2. Of a pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like most types of honey.

Translations

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

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To sweeten; to make agreeable.
  2. (intransitive) To be gentle, agreeable, or coaxing; to talk fondly; to use endearments.
    • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Honeying and making love.
  3. (intransitive) To be or become obsequiously courteous or complimentary; to fawn.

Derived terms

Related terms

Template:rel-mid3

Template:rel-mid3

See also

other entries of interest

Template:rel-mid4

Template:rel-mid4

Template:rel-mid4

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=honey&oldid=58264405"