Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sweet yellowish or brownish viscid fluid produced by various bees from the nectar of flowers and used as food.
  • noun A similar substance made by certain other insects.
  • noun A sweet substance, such as nectar or syrup.
  • noun Sweetness; pleasantness.
  • noun Informal Sweetheart; dear. Used as a term of endearment.
  • noun Informal Something remarkably fine.
  • transitive verb To sweeten with honey; add honey to.
  • transitive verb To make pleasant or appealing.
  • transitive verb To give a yellow or golden color to.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A sweet viscid fluid collected from the nectaries of flowers and elaborated for food by several kinds of insects, especially by the honey-bee, Apis mellifica.
  • noun Figuratively, sweetness or charm.
  • noun Sweet one; darling: a trivial word of endearment.
  • Having the nature of honey; sweet; luscious.
  • To cover with or as with honey; sweeten; make delicious: as, “honeyed lines of rhyme,”
  • To talk sweetly to; coax; flatter.
  • To become sweet; be or become complimentary or tender; use endearments; talk fondly.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A sweet viscid fluid, esp. that collected by bees from flowers of plants, and deposited in the cells of the honeycomb.
  • noun That which is sweet or pleasant, like honey.
  • noun Sweet one; -- a term of endearment.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a small ant (Myrmecocystus melliger), found in the Southwestern United States, and in Mexico, living in subterranean formicares. There are larger and smaller ordinary workers, and others, which serve as receptacles or cells for the storage of honey, their abdomens becoming distended to the size of a currant. These, in times of scarcity, regurgitate the honey and feed the rest.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the ratel.
  • noun (Zoöl.) See Kinkajou.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a bird related to the kites, of the genus Pernis. The European species is Pernis apivorus; the Indian or crested honey buzzard is Pernis ptilorhyncha. They feed upon honey and the larvæ of bees. Called also bee hawk, bee kite.
  • noun (Zoöl.) one of several species of small birds of the family Indicatoridæ, inhabiting Africa and the East Indies. They have the habit of leading persons to the nests to wild bees. Called also honeybird, and indicator.
  • noun the gathering of honey from hives, or the honey which is gathered.
  • noun (Zoöl.) See Honey buzzard (above).
  • noun (Bot.) a North American tree (Gleditschia triacanthos), armed with thorns, and having long pods with a sweet pulp between the seeds.
  • noun Same as Honeymoon.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the ratel.
  • intransitive verb To be gentle, agreeable, or coaxing; to talk fondly; to use endearments; also, to be or become obsequiously courteous or complimentary; to fawn.
  • transitive verb To make agreeable; to cover or sweeten with, or as with, honey.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable A viscous, sweet fluid produced from plant nectar by bees. Often used to sweeten tea or to spread on baked goods.
  • noun countable A variety of this substance.
  • noun figuratively Something sweet or desirable.
  • noun A term of affection.
  • noun countable, informal A woman, especially an attractive one.
  • noun A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like that of most types of (the sweet substance) honey.
  • adjective Describing a thing involving or resembling honey.
  • adjective A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like that of most types of honey.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sweet yellow liquid produced by bees
  • adjective of something having the color of honey
  • verb sweeten with honey
  • noun a beloved person; used as terms of endearment

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English honi, from Old English hunig.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English hony, honi, from Old English huniġ, from Proto-Germanic *hunagan (cf. West Frisian hunich, German Honig), from earlier *hunangan (cf. Swedish honung), from pre-Germanic *kn̥h₂onkós, from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂ónks (gen. *kn̥h₂kós) (cf. Middle Welsh canecon ("gold"), Latin (pl.) canicae ("bran"), Tocharian B kronkśe ("bee"), Albanian qengjë ("beehive"), Ancient Greek κνηκός (knēkós, "pale yellow")), Kurdish şan ("beehive").

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Examples

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  • "What happened to a sense of wonder

    On yonder hillside, getting dim

    Why didn’t they leave us, alone

    Why couldn’t we just be ourselves

    We could dream, and keep bees

    And live on honey street"

    Van Morrison, "Pagan Streams"

    September 18, 2007

  • "Honey" - The title of a song written by Bobby Russell and recorded by Bobby Goldsboro

    January 21, 2008