honey
pronunciation
How to pronounce honey in British English:
UK [ˈhʌni]
How to pronounce honey in American English:
US [ˈhʌni]
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- Noun:
- a sweet yellow liquid produced by bees
- a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
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- Verb:
- sweeten with honey
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- Adjective:
- having the color of honey
Word Origin
- honey
- honey: [OE] Our Indo-European ancestors were very fond of honey, and their word for it, based on *melit-, has come down to many modern European languages, such as French and Spanish miel, Italian miele, and Welsh mel (it also contributed to English mellifluous, mildew, and molasses). The Germanic languages, however, have not persisted with it.Their words for ‘honey’ (which also include German honig, Dutch honing, Swedish honung, and Danish honning) come from a prehistoric West and North Germanic *khunagom or *khunanggom. This may originally have described the colour of honey; it has been linked with Greek knēkós ‘pale yellow’ and Sanskrit kāncana- ‘golden’.
- honey (n.)
- Old English hunig, from Proto-Germanic *hunagam- (cognates: Old Norse hunang, Swedish honung, Old Saxon huneg, Old Frisian hunig, Middle Dutch honich, Dutch honig, Old High German honang, German Honig "honey"); perhaps from PIE *k(e)neko- "yellow, golden" (cognates: Sanskrit kancanum, Welsh canecon "gold"). The more common Indo-European word is represented by Gothic miliþ (from PIE *melith "honey;" see Melissa). A term of endearment from at least mid-14c. Meaning "anything good of its kind" is 1888, American English.
- honey (v.)
- mid-14c., from honey (n.). Related: Honeyed; honeying.
Example
- 1. Add a bit honey in your milk or tea .
- 2. Honey , can we talk about this later ?
- 3. Honey , this is going to be my last cigarette .
- 4. Surely there now has to be some kind of honey involved .
- 5. Nor can a honey hunter can join the hunting team if his wife is menstruating or over pregnant .