honey

honey

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of honey in English

English Online Dictionary. What means honey‎? What does honey mean?

English

Alternative forms

  • hunny (eye dialect)

Etymology

From Middle English hony, honi, from Old English huniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hunag, 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), Northern Kurdish şan (beehive), Northern Luri گونج (gonj, bee), Finnish hunaja.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

honey (usually uncountable, plural honeys or (archaic) honies)

  1. (uncountable) A viscous, gold-coloured sweet fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans.
  2. (countable) A variety of this substance.
  3. (rare) Nectar.
  4. (figuratively) Something sweet or desirable.
  5. A term of affection.
  6. (countable, informal) A woman, especially an attractive one.
  7. A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like that of most types of (the sweet substance) honey.

Synonyms

  • (sweet fluid from bees): mel
  • (term of affection): darling, sweetie, see also Thesaurus:sweetheart

Hypernyms

  • food
  • liquid

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Japanese: ハニー (hanī)
  • Jarai: ia hơni
  • Marshallese: ōne
  • Sranan Tongo: oni
  • Tok Pisin: hani

Translations

Adjective

honey (comparative honeyer or honier, superlative honeyest or honiest)

  1. Involving or resembling honey.
  2. Of a pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like most types of honey.
  3. Honey-sweet.

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. (transitive) To add honey to.
  3. (intransitive) To be gentle, agreeable, or coaxing; to talk fondly; to use endearments.
  4. (intransitive) To be or become obsequiously courteous or complimentary; to fawn.

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

  • 🍯
  • Appendix:Colors

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.