Etymology

Noun

1. A viscous, sweet fluid produced from plant nectar by bees; a variety of this substance.
2. A thing likened to honey for its sweetness, desirability, etc.

   1595 Shakespeare, William, 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."
3. A term of affection.

   Honey, would you take out the trash?

4. An attractive woman

   Man, there are some fine honeys here tonight!

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

Adjective

1. Describing a thing involving or resembling honey.

   1599 Shakespeare, William, 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.

See also

• Appendix:Colours

• apis mellifica
• diabetes mellitus
• hydromel

• melilot
• melliferous

• mellifluous
• melliphagous

• mellitic acid
• molasses
• oenomel