▪ I. honey, n. (a.)
(ˈhʌnɪ)
Forms: α. 1 huniᵹ, hunæᵹ, 3 huniȝ, 3–4 huni, (uni), 4–5 huny, (4 houny, 5 Sc. hwnie, -ny), 6–7 hunny. β. 4–7 honi, (5 ony, hoony), 4–8 hony, 5–6 honye, 5– honey, (6–7 honie, honnie, honny). γ. Sc. and north. 7– hinny, -ie, -ey.
[OE. huniᵹ = OFris. hunig (mod. Fris. dial. hunig, -ing, huynig, hönning, -ig), OS. honeg, -ig (MDu. honich, -inc, Du. honig, -ing, MLG. honnich, LG. honnig), OHG. honag, honang (MHG. honec, -ic, -ich, G. honig), ON. hunang (OSw. hunagh, honag, Sw. honung, Da. honning):—OTeut. *huna(n)go{supm} neut., not recorded in Gothic, which has instead milip = Gr. µελιτ-. The β forms are mainly graphic, in accordance with the usual ME. writing of o instead of u before n; but there may have been a northern form *hōni, to which mod.Sc. hinnie goes back (like brither, mither) through ü, ö, to ō.]
A. n.
1. a. A sweet viscid fluid, of various shades from nearly white to deep golden, being the nectar of flowers collected and worked up for food by certain insects, esp. the honey-bee.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xviii. 11 [xix. 10] Swoetran ofer huniᵹ and biobread. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §23 Þær [Estland] bið swyðe mycel huniᵹ & fisc[n]að. c 1200 Ormin 9225 Itt wass huniȝ off þe feld. c 1230 Hali Meid. 9 Ha lickeð huni of þornes. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 43 Hony & mylk þer ys muche. a 1300 Cursor M. 21296 Þe stile o matheu, water it was..And john honi suet als suilk. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 726 Dranes doþ nouȝt but drynkeþ vp þe huny. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. (E.E.T.S.) 247 Hote drynke makyd wyth Hoony. 1483 Cath. Angl. 192/1 To make Huny, mellifacere. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. cxxx. Wks. (1876) 227 O swete wordes, more sweter than hony and suger. 1563 Winȝet Wks. (1890) II. 48 Quhais speche wes..nocht wordis sa mekle as certane hwnie. 1582 T. Watson Centurie of Love xii. Poems (Arb.) 48 Hunny mixt with gall. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 24 Sweete wordes, like dropping honny, she did shed. 1611 Bible Exod. iii. 8 A lande flowing with milke and hony. 1626 Bacon Sylva § 612 There be three things in vse for Sweetnesse, Sugar, Honey, Manna. 1794 Burns My Tocher's the Jewel, It's a' for the hiney he'll cherish the bee. 1838 Thirlwall Greece xxxvii. V. 21 His body, immersed in honey, was carried home for a royal burial. |
b. With qualifications.
honey of borax,
borax h., a mixture of clarified honey and borax, used as a remedy in aphthous diseases (Hoblyn
Dict. Med. Terms, 1844).
† corn h.,
stone h. (see
quot. 1609).
clarified h., honey melted in a waterbath and freed from scum.
clover h.,
heather h., that gathered from these flowers respectively.
† live h., (see
quot. 1609).
unripe h. (see
quot. 1884).
virgin h.,
white h., honey that flows from the cells spontaneously without pressure, being that made by bees that have not swarmed.
wild h.,
† wood h., that made by wild bees.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. iii. 4 Hys mete wæs..wudu-huniᵹ. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 139 Moren and wilde uni was his mete. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 29 Do þer-to hwyte Hony or Sugre. Ibid. 35 Take wyne & pouder Gyngere, Canelle, & a lytil claryfyid hony. 1526 Tindale Matt. iii. 4 Hys meate was..wylde hony. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 165 This powder with Hony-Attick, taketh away the spots in the face. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1634) 108 While it continueth liquid, and will run of it self, it is called Live-honey: when it is turned white and hard..it is called Corn-honey, or Stone-honey. a 1648 Digby Closet Open. (1677) 4 It is of three sorts, Virgin-honey, Life-honey, and Stock-honey. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., We have two kinds of honey, white and yellow.―The white, mel album, called also virgin honey, trickles out spontaneously from the comb, by turning it up. 1884 J. Phin Dict. Apicult. 73 Unripe Honey, honey from which the water has not been sufficiently evaporated. |
2. Applied to products of the nature of, or resembling honey:
esp. a. the nectar of flowers;
b. a preparation consisting of the expressed juice of dates or other fruit of palm trees.
| 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 90 Taste the honey, and not wound the flow'r. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Wars Jews iv. viii. §3 The better sort of them [palm trees], when they are pressed, yield an excellent kind of honey. 1836 Macgillivray tr. Humboldt's Trav. xxv. 387 This juice or honey has an agreeable acid taste. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. iv. x, The honey of poison-flowers. 1883 H. W. V. Stuart Egypt 271 The treacle which drains from the sugar is called black honey, and is much used by the natives. 1885 Gray Bot. Text-bk. II. 451 The nectar..is the sweetish liquid commonly called the ‘honey’ of the flower, secreted by certain specialized organs known as nectar-glands. |
3. (? Short for
honey-cake.)
singing hinny, a currant cake baked on a girdle.
north.| 1832 W. Stephenson Local Poems 27 Ma canny bairns come get your tea, I've made a singing hinny. 1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall 283 The Cornish cottage has no ‘singing hinnies’, or rich girdle cakes. |
4. fig. a. Sweetness.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 92 Death that hath suckt the honey of thy breath. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 22 Matter..that for euer marres The Hony of his Language. 1738 Pope Epil. Sat. i. 67 The Honey dropping from Favonio's tongue. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes I. 216 Mrs. Mack was not all honey. 1893 Stevenson Catriona 365 He said it with a serious heat of admiration that was honey to the girl. |
b. A colour resembling that of honey. Also
attrib. and
Comb. (see sense 6 c).
| 1814 P. Syme Werner's Nomencl. Colours 34 Honey Yellow, is sulphur yellow mixed with chestnut brown. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 524 It is honey-yellow, transparent, brittle. 1888 C. T. Whitmell Colour xii. 183 Yellows may be distinguished as..honey..gold, [etc.]. 1923 Daily Mail 8 May 14 In Reseda,..Champagne, Honey, Copper. 1958 Times 16 Aug. 4/7 The Leccesi were fortunate in having close by an inexhaustible supply of honey-gold limestone. 1959 A. K. Lang in H. Q. Masur Murder Most Foul (1973) 76 A confection of honey blonde hair. 1973 G. Beare Snake on Grave iv. 23 Her skin was deeply tanned, a smooth honey gold. |
5. a. A term of endearment: Sweet one, sweetheart, darling. (Formerly chiefly Irish and, in form
hinnie,
hinny,
Sc. and
Northumbr. Now also common in N.
Amer., whence also in Britain and elsewhere.)
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 1655 William..seide, ‘mi hony, mi hert al hol þou me makest’. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 431 Alisoun his hony deere. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxv. 3 My hwny [v.r. hunny], my hart, my hoip, my heill. c 1600 Timon ii. i. (Shaks. Soc.) 24 My sparrow, my hony, my duck, my cony. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. ii, Hunny, how's this? 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. vi, Our affairs, Honey, are in a bad condition. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. vi, Follow her, boy, follow her; run in, run in, that's it, honeys. 1809–12 M. Edgeworth Ennui viii. Wks. 1832–3 VI. 74 Have done being wild, honey-dear, and be a credit to your family. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xvi, Where did he change his clothes again, hinny? a 1825 Song in Brockett s.v. Hinney, Where hest thou been, maw canny hinny? 1832 Mrs. Trollope Dom. Manners Amer. (1894) I. 140 My children..she always addressed by their Christian names, excepting when she substituted the word ‘honey’. 1859 Mrs. Stowe Minister's Wooing xxiii. 215 Come to ole Candace!..Honey, darlin', ye a'n't right—dar's a drefful mistake somewhar'. 1919 C. H. Darling Jargon Bk. 17 Honey, sweetheart. 1929 M. Connelly Green Pastures (1930) i. v. 55 Come on, honey, an' meet de folks. 1939 [see chin n.1 1 d]. 1952 Manch. Guardian Weekly 20 Mar. 3 She doesn't have a thing that you haven't got, honey, but she has it over here. 1952 S. Kauffmann Philanderer (1953) i. 15 ‘I think you know I really understand it. But, honey I ―.’ A little pause here. 1961 J. Heller Catch-22 (1962) xviii. 178 ‘Be thankful you've got me,’ she insisted. ‘I am, honey.’ 1962 J. Ludwig in R. Weaver First Five Years 22 ‘Honey,’ he said to the girl, ‘let your babbe stay out here with the baby.’ 1964 L. Nkosi Rhythm of Violence 27 Men are monsters!..Especially black men, honey. 1968 New Society 29 Aug. 305/1 ‘Honey’ as an endearment, now rediscovered by southern Englishmen via Hollywood. |
b. Anyone or anything good of its kind.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1888 Missouri Republican 24 Feb., Dave is a honey. 1933 Amer. Speech VIII. iii. 35/1 [Pugilist slang] Bear⁓cat, an excellent fighter, a honey. 1934 H. N. Rose Thesaurus of Slang ii. 3/1 Anything pleasing or attractive: a honey. 1935 [see dilly n.5]. 1939 Evening News 7 Nov. 4/5 A shot you are pleased with is a ‘honey’ or a ‘peach’ or an ‘eagle’. 1946 G. Gibson Enemy Coast Ahead xiii. 185 On the controls she [sc. an aeroplane] was as light as could be. This ship was certainly a honey. 1949 N.Y. Times 2 Oct. 1 It is a honey of a taut melodrama. 1958 M. Allingham Hide my Eyes xvi. 160 It had been a honey of an evening. 1959 Vogue Nov. 119 The Mini-Minor is a honey for parking. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 38/1 (Advt.), A real honey, automatic power steering, power brakes, radio. |
c. (See
quot. 1960.)
U.S. slang.| 1934 L. Hellman Children's Hour i. 27 Martha:..has she always been like this? Cardin: She's always been a honey. Aunt Amelia's spoiling hasn't helped any, either. 1960 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 265/1 Honey, a person who is difficult to please; a difficult problem or task. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. Of, for, pertaining to, or connected with honey; as
honey bike,
honey brake (see
brake n.6 1),
honey-cake,
honey colour,
honey-crock,
honey-cup,
honey drink,
honey-harvest,
honey-knife,
honey-mead,
honey-pore,
honey-scale,
honey-shop,
honey-time,
honey wine, etc.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. v. 4 The smell of my son is lyke To a feld with flouris, or *hony bike. |
| 1542 Udall tr. Erasm. Apoph. 118 bis [119] Fair and smoothe speakyng..Diogenes customably vsed to call an *hony brake, or a snare of honey. |
| 1710 Addison Tatler No. 255 ¶ 2 It was usual for the Priest..to feast upon the Sacrifice, nay the *Honey-Cake. 1853 Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1872) II. 418, I will now knead you a honey-cake. |
| 1611 Florio, Melichlorone, a stone partly yellow and partly of an *hony colour. |
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 33 Like foolish flies about an *hony-crocke. |
| 1833 Tennyson Poems 70 Like to the dainty bird..Draining the *honeycups. |
| a 1648 Digby Closet Open. (1669) 97 To make *Honey drink. To two quarts of water take one pound of Honey. |
| a 1700 Dryden Ovid (T.), Bees..bring Their *honey-harvest home. 1843 Zoologist I. 28 An abundant honey-harvest. |
| 1884 J. Phin Dict. Apicult., *Honey-knife, 1. A long thin knife used for separating the combs from the sides of a box-hive. 2. A knife..used for cutting-off the caps of the honey-cells. |
| a 1735 Arbuthnot Congress of Bees Misc. Wks. 1751 II. 141 The first Foundation of their Work the skilful *Honey-Masters call Commosis. |
| 1845 Lindley Sch. Bot. iv. (1858) 26 Petals numerous, small, with a *honey-pore at the back. |
| 1831 Don Gard. Dict. Gloss., *Honey-scales, the scales in flowers which secrete honey. |
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 906 The Bees do frequently resort thither..their nest or *Honey-shop is not far off. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Hony tyme when it is rypely gathered. |
b. objective and
obj. gen., as
honey-dresser,
honey-farmer,
honey-gatherer,
honey-hunter,
honey-maker,
honey-worker;
honey-bearing,
honey-dropping,
honey-eating,
honey-gathering,
honey-making,
honey-secreting,
honey-storing,
honey-yielding, etc.,
ns. and
adjs. Also
honey-eater.
| 1611 Florio, Melifero,..*honie-bearing. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Hony dressers, mellisones. |
| 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 82 *Honie-dropping Aganippes fount. |
| 1679 M. Rusden Further Discov. Bees 53 *Hony-gathering being past, the Bees have no more need of them [drones]. 1853 Lynch Self-Improv. ii. 40 The continued honey-gathering of the bee. |
| 1608 Topsell Serpents 68 There are none Idle, although they be not all *Honny-makers. |
| 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 136/1 *Honey-secreting glands are to be met with on the leaves. |
c. parasynthetic, as
honey-coloured,
honey-hearted, etc.,
adjs. Also
honey-lipped, -mouthed, etc.
d. similative, etc., as
honey-brown,
honey-dun,
honey-pale,
honey-tasting,
honey-yellow;
honey-like adjs. Also
honey-sweet.
e. instrumental, as
honey-bubbling,
honey-flowing,
honey-heavy,
honey-laden,
honey-loaded,
honey-steeped,
honey-stored, etc.,
adjs.| 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 89 Aganippes *hony-bubling fountaine. |
| 1879 Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 62 The bush of *honey-coloured beard. |
| a 1000 Guthlac 1276 in Exeter Bk., Wyrta ᵹeblowene *huniᵹ-flowende. 1580 Sidney Arcadia i. Wks. 1725 I. 3 The honey-flowing speech that breath doth carry. |
| 1884 Miss Gordon-Cumming in Cent. Mag. XXVII. 920 *Honey-laden blossoms. |
| 1698 J. Petiver in Phil. Trans. XX. 323 The bottom of each Flower contains a *Hony-like Liquor. |
| 1611 Florio, Melino, honie⁓sweete, *honie-tasting. |
7. a. Special Combinations:
honey ant = honey-pot 4;
† honey-apple, (
a) in
OE., a lozenge or pastille containing honey; (
b)
tr. L.
melimēlum,
Gr. µελίµηλον, ‘a sweet-apple, an apple grafted on a quince’ (Liddell and
Sc.);
honey-baby colloq. = honey n. 5;
honey-badger = honey-ratel;
honey-bag, the enlargement of the alimentary canal in which the bee carries its honey;
honey-basket, the corbiculum of the bee:
cf. quot. s.v. basket n. 7;
honey-bearer, a honey-ant which stores up in its distensible abdomen the honey collected by the workers;
† honey-beer, ? mead;
honey-bucket N. Amer. slang, a container for excrement;
honey-bun,
honey-bunch colloq. = honey n. 5;
honey-cell, a cell of a honeycomb;
honey chile chiefly
Southern U.S. (
esp. Black)
colloq.,
= honey n. 5;
honey-creeper, a South American bird of the sub-family Cœrebinæ or a Hawaiian bird of the family Drepanididæ;
honey-extractor (see
quots.);
honey-fall = honey-dew 1; also
fig.;
honey-flow, the secretion of honey or nectar by flowers;
† honey-fly = honey-bee;
honey-gate (see
quot.);
honey-gilding, (
a) a dull gilding made from gold-leaf and honey, and used to decorate porcelain; (
b) the process of applying such a solution;
honey-gland, a gland secreting honey, a nectary;
honey-gold,
= honey-gilding (a);
honey-holder = honey-bearer;
honey-kite = honey-buzzard;
honey-man, a man who sells honey or has charge of bees;
honey-mark = honey-spot;
honey-moth, the honeycomb moth;
honey-mouse = honey possum;
† honey-people, fancifully applied to honey-bees;
honey possum, a small West Australian marsupial,
Tarsipes spenseræ;
† honey-rore = honey-dew 2;
honey-soap (see
quot.);
† honey-sop, a sop made with honey; also, a term of endearment;
† honey-spot, a mole on the flesh;
honey-stomach = honey-bag;
honey-sucker, one that sucks honey;
spec. applied to birds of the family
Meliphagidæ, and popularly to various other small birds, as the
Cœrebidæ,
Nectariniidæ (sun-birds), etc.:
cf. honey-eater;
† honey-tear (
OE. huniᵹtéar,
ME. hunitiar,
-ter), virgin honey, nectar; sweet wine;
honey-tube, one of the two setiform tubes on the upper side of the abdomen of an aphis, which secrete a sweet fluid;
honey-water, water with honey dissolved in it;
honey-week (
nonce-wd.), a honeymoon lasting only a week;
† honey-wooled a., having wool of a honey colour;
honey-words, words of sweetness, honeyed words:
cf. B.
| 1868 Amer. Naturalist II. 382 A species of ‘*Honey-ant’ is also found in Texas. 1874 Ibid. VIII. 366 The average weight of a non-producing ant is two milligrammes, that of a full honey-ant two hundred and forty milligrammes, a contrast simply immense. 1882 Proctor Nature Stud. 27 The honey-ants are a nocturnal species. 1882 H. C. McCook (title) The honey ants of the Garden of the Gods. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 27 Feb. 1/3 Our human specialists are never quite so utterly sacrificed to their kind as the honey-ants. 1910 W. M. Wheeler Ants xx. 362 Honey ants have been reported from North America, South Africa and Australia. 1923 Jrnl. Proc. R. Soc. W. Austral. IX. 47 The geographical distribution of the various honey ants seems to point to drought as one of the most important factors in their development. 1944 Living off Land ii. 25 The bushman who finds honey ants can consider himself in champion class. |
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 830 Pastellas, *hunaeᵹaepl. a 1000 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 279/25 Passtellus, huniᵹæppel. 1678 Littleton Lat. Dict., A honey-apple, melimelum. |
| 1948 E. Waugh Loved One 134 She was my *honey-baby. 1959 Times 20 June 7/6 Most people know..what is meant by..‘a honey-baby’. |
| 1884 J. S. Kingsley Stand. Nat. Hist. V. 392 The ratels or *honey badgers..surpass the skunk in burrowing activity. |
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. i. 171 The *honie-bags steale from the humble Bees. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) II. iv. xi. 518 The..honey-bag..when filled, appears like an oblong bladder. |
| 1882 Proctor Nature Stud. 26 This species [honey-ants]..possesses, apparently at least, a fourth caste, that of the *honey-bearers, whose abdomen is distended till it is almost spherical. |
| 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 57 They owe not their healths a little to the simplicity of their drink, which is only water, milk, and *honey-beer. |
| 1931 Brophy & Partridge Songs & Slang 1914–18 318 *Honey-bucket, latrine receptacle for excreta. Canadian. 1962 F. G. Vallee Kabloona & Eskimo in Central Keewatin 48 And where do they get the money? From emptying honey buckets for the Whites and mostly sitting on their butts. 1963 Observer 22 Dec. 13/3 The plumbing is definitely un-American. We were warned that the ‘honey-buckets’ would be a draughty experience. 1969 Beaver (Winnipeg, Man.) Summer 6/2 A woman taxi driver tells me most houses have honey-buckets, and galvanized [bath] tubs filled by hand. |
| 1911 Dialect Notes III. 544 *Honey-bun. 1913 Maclean's Mag. Mar. 58/2 ‘Come, honey-bun,’ she enticed. 1949 Horizon XIX. 239 Now, honey-bun, let's talk it over. 1957 M. Summerton Sunset Hour iii. 46 ‘You might have warned me you were coming!’ ‘No time, honey bun.’ 1969 R. Tashkent Ambiguous Man iii. 34 I'm sorry, honeybun—sorry. Guess I'm a little upset. |
| 1904 G. H. Lorimer Old Gorgon Graham 150 Honey, Honey, Funny *Honey-bunch. 1912 Collier's 5 Oct. 34/2 Why, can't you see, Honey-bunch, can't you see? 1937 A. Reid in Famous Plays (Gollancz) 721 Jenny..control yourself! Jenny: Very well, honey bunch! I'll try for the present. 1942 Wodehouse Money in Bank (1946) xiv. 122 But where does that get us, honeybunch? 1949 F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream 144 Honeybunch..what's it like sleeping all on your lonesome? |
| 1926 T. S. Stribling Teeftallow viii. 67 Stan up fo yo' baby... Thah you ah, *honey chile, lookin' yo' baby in de eye. 1948 Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. vii. 125 Southern speech has suffered cruelly on the stage and in talkies, where kittenish actresses from the domain of General American think that they have imitated it sufficiently when they have thrown in a few you-alls and honey-chiles. 1957 O. Nash You can't get there from Here 96, I early abandoned the hopeless fight against honey-chile and you-all. 1957 Trager & Smith Outl. Eng. Struct. 82 There are current in popular literature allusions to ‘Brooklynese’ or ‘honey-chile’ accents. 1971 J. Yardley Kiss a Day viii. 153 Honey chile may well be talking through the back of her gorgeous neck. 1973 Listener 5 July 21/3 They [sc. the speakers] [were not] supposed to be rendering Deep South ‘honey-chile’ drawls. |
| [1822 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds IV. 207 Some few, indeed, of the Creepers have the tongue divided at the end and such no doubt are capable of licking honey from flowers.] 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 91 The Cærebidæ, or *honey-creepers of the tropics. 1885 J. S. Kingsley Stand. Nat. Hist. IV. 540 The honey⁓creepers in the New World ‘represent’ the sun-birds. 1912 Brabourne & Chubb Birds S. Amer. I. 395 Turquoise Honey-Creeper. 1944 G. C. Munro Birds of Hawaii 89 (heading) Hawaiian Honey-creepers. Drepanididae. Hawaiian Honey-creeper Family. 1970 R. Meyer de Schauensee Guide Birds S. Amer. 368 Honeycreepers form a composite family of groups of birds much unlike each other... They share the habit of feeding on the pollen and nectar of flowers, as well as on berries, small seeds and insects. |
| 1884 J. Phin Dict. Apicult., *Honey-extractor, a machine by means of which the honey is thrown out of the cells by centrifugal force. |
| 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat. iii. i. 16 They lickt oake leaues besprint with *hony fall. 1855 Whitby Gloss., Honeyfall, a befalment of good things. ‘They have had a brave honeyfall lately.’ |
| 1893 S. Simmins Mod. Bee-Farm (rev. ed.) 255 Frequent rainfalls destroy all chance of a good *honey flow. 1894 Farm, Field & Fireside 13 July 352/3 There is no reason why a swarm hived towards the end of the honey-flow should not at once have its energies directed to storing surplus. 1955 E. Hillary High Adventure i. 14 All through the exciting months of the honey-flow, the dream of a bumper crop would drive us on. 1958 Irish Beekeeper's Manual (Stationery Office, Dublin) xvi. 53 One or more crates of sections may be removed at any time during the honey flow, after the sections in a crate have been completely sealed. 1972 Country Life 3 Feb. 253/1 The worker bee at the height of the honey flow, as it is called by beekeepers, works so hard that it wears itself out and dies in a short time. |
| 1483 Caxton Cato D ij b, The poure man had in hys gardyn many *hony flees or bees. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. vii. 591 Prince and People, rise, And run to School among the Hony-Flies. a 1700 in Palgrave Gold. Treas. (1863) 73 The care⁓burthen'd honey-fly. |
| 1884 J. Phin Dict. Apicult. 44 Since thick honey does not flow freely through the ordinary faucet, beekeepers have adopted the ‘molasses-gate’ as it is called. When used for honey it is properly called a *honey⁓gate. |
| 1958 M. Wykes-Joyce 7000 Yrs. Pott. & Porc. 271/2 *Honey gilding. 1960 R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Cont. Pott. & Porc. 207/1 Honey-gilding was a more satisfactory process. 1960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 129/1 Honey gilding was used at the Chelsea and Worcester porcelain factories. 1971 Country Life 10 June 1416/3 When heavily laid on in broad masses, honey gilding could be further enriched with light and shade patterns by chasing with a finely pointed agate. |
| 1874 Lubbock Wild Flowers iii. 54 The *honey⁓glands are..situated in pairs at the base of the petals. |
| 1954 G. Savage Porcelain viii. 220 Gilding was often lavish, but of the brassy mercuric variety, whereas, for much of the eighteenth century, *honey gold was sparingly and tastefully applied. 1965 Finer & Savage in Lett. of J. Wedgwood 8 The porcelain manufacturers used, first honey-gold..and later, mercuric gilding. |
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 27 Feb. 1/3 The specialised *honey-holders are fed by the workers till they can contain no more without danger of an explosion. |
| 1883 Cassell's Nat. Hist. III. 290 The *Honey-Kite inhabits..the greater part of Europe. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Hony man, or seller of hony, mellarius. 1836–48 B. D. Walsh Aristoph., Knights ii. iv, Honeymen besides, Prepared to join his banners. |
| a 1803 Young Benjie xii. in Child Ballads (1886) lxxxvi. II. 282/2 ‘O how shall we her ken?’..‘There's a *honey-mark on her chin.’ |
| 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 211 Tineidæ..Galleria..The *Honey [moth] (G. alveria). 1855 Mrs. Gatty Parables fr. Nat. Ser. i. (1869) 23 The mischievous honey moth has laid her eggs in our combs. |
| 1923 Austral. Zoologist III. 148 The Tarsipes are known throughout the district as ‘*Honey Mice’, which is such an excellent vernacular name, when one considers the habits detailed later on, that I venture to submit it for general use. 1965 Honey-mouse [see honey possum]. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 336 Never did the..king Of *hony-people..Lead to the field..More busie buzzers. |
| 1941 E. Troughton Furred Animals of Australia 80 The *Honey Possum is readily distinguished by having three well-marked dark brown stripes along the back. 1965 Austral. Encycl. VII. 234/1 Honey-possum (Tarsipes spenserae). Restricted to the south of Western Australia, this species (which is also known as the honey-mouse), feeds on nectar, pollen, and small insects, gathered from blossoms. |
| 1632 Vicars tr. Virgil (N.), He..felt loves *honey-rore Soak in. |
| 1878 H. Beasley Druggist's Receipt Bk. (ed. 8) 239 The *honey soap usually sold, consists of fine yellow soap perfumed with oil of citronella. |
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxv. 30 My *hwny soppis, my sweit possodie. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Cahinas, hony sops made of bread, hony and water. 1606 Wily Beguiled in Hazl. Dodsley IX. 269 Ha, my sweet honey-sops! how dost thou? |
| 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Man geni, Mole, *hony spotte. |
| c 1050 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 370/37 Carene, cerenes, oððe *huniᵹteares. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 217 ælc word of him swete, al swa an huni tiar felle upe ȝuire hierte. a 1240 Ureisun Ibid. 183 Ihesu swete..mi leof..Min huniter. |
| 1884 Sedgwick tr. Claus' Zool. 569 Many of them [Aphidæ] possess, on the dorsal surface of the antepenultimate segment, two ‘*honey tubes’, from which is secreted a sweet fluid—the honey dew—which is eagerly sought for by ants. |
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 23 b/2 He must washe his mouthe with *honye-water, to the purifyinge of the dissease. 1792 Nelson 5 Feb. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) I. 292 To tell her where honey-water is sold in Norwich. |
| 1833 T. Hook Widow & Marquess x. (1842) 143 The happy couple left town..to pass the *honey week—for they had not time to make a moon of it. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 598 Their best sheep..near the Alpes, they are gray or *hony-wolled. |
| 1595 Barnfield Cassandra xxi. in Poems (Arb.) 70 Scarce were these *honywords breath'd from her lips. 1818 Keats Endym. iii. 420 Tears, and smiles, and honey-words. |
b. In names of plants and fruits:
honey agaric = honey fungus;
honey-apple (see 7);
honey-balm, a labiate plant,
Melittis Melissophyllum;
honey banana, a West Indian name for a diploid variety of
Musa acuminata, bearing small, sweet, thin-skinned fruit; also
ellipt. honey;
honey-berry, the sweet berry of a West Indian tree,
Melicocca bijuga; also, that of the Nettle-tree of Southern Europe,
Celtis australis;
honey-blob (
hinny-)
Sc., a sweet yellow gooseberry;
honey-bloom, the Fly-trap of North America,
Apocynum androsæmifolium;
honey-bottle (
local), the bloom of
Erica Tetralix;
honey-bread, the Carob (
Ceratonia Siliqua);
honey-cherry, a sweet variety of cherry;
honey fungus, a fungus,
Armillaria mellea, which causes a root disease in trees and shrubs, indicated by honey-coloured toadstools around affected plants and black threads like bootlaces attached to their roots;
honey-garlic, a name of
Allium siculum (
Nectaroscordum);
honey-locust, name of the thorny leguminous trees of the North American genus
Gleditschia,
esp. G. triacanthos; also applied to the mesquit,
Prosopis juliflora, a similar tree found in the South-western States;
honey-lotus, a local name of the White Melilot,
Melilotus alba;
† honey-meal [
tr. L.
melimēlum]
= honey-apple b. (see 7);
honey-mesquit,
Prosopis juliflora (see
honey-locust);
honey mushroom U.S. = honey fungus;
honey-pear, a sweet variety of pear;
honey-plant, a plant yielding nectar; ‘the genus
Hoya’ (Miller); ‘
Melianthus’ (
Treas. Bot.); in Tasmania,
Richea scoparia (Morris
Austral Eng.);
honey-pod = honey-mesquit (
Cent. Dict.);
honey-stalks n. pl., applied by Shakespere to the stalks or flowers of clover;
honey-ware = badderlocks;
honey-wood, the Tasmanian tree
Bedfordia salicina (Morris). See also
honeysuckle,
honeywort.
| 1894 W. Somerville tr. Hartig's Text-bk. Dis. Trees i. 207 Agaricus melleus. The *Honey Agaric. This fungus belongs to the most widely distributed and destructive of parasites. 1909 E. W. Swanton Fungi ii. 176 A[rmillaria] mellea..‘Honey Agaric’. 1945 M. C. Rayner Trees & Toadstools ii. 35 The Honey Agaric forms its sporophores only after the tissues in which it grows have been killed. |
| 1938 Jrnl. Jamaica Agric. Soc. XLII. 460 The Red banana, *Honey, Apple and Fillbasket eventually found their way here. Ibid. 464 (heading) Honey [banana]. This variety is..also known by the names Sucrier and Lady's Finger... The skin is very thin and ripens to a deep yellow. The flavour of the fruit is very sweet and gives the variety its name. 1959 N. W. Simmonds Bananas v. 76 Notes on the principal clones. AA group. (a) ‘Sucrier’. Principal synonyms..‘Honey’.. (West Indies). 1961 [see fig n.1 1 c]. |
| 1882 J. Smith Dict. Econ. Pl., *Honey-berry of Guiana..where it forms large forests. |
| 1746 H. Walpole Lett. (1820) I. 144 He stopped..to buy *honey-blobs, as the Scotch call gooseberries. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes xxiii, Confessing..that she preferred it to the rasps and hinnyblobs in her grandmama's garden. |
| 1880 Jefferies Gt. Estate 6 Wild moor-like lands, beautiful with heaths and *honey⁓bottle. |
| 1757 A. Cooper Distiller iii. lii. (1760) 221 The black Heart Cherry, the common red Cherry, the black Cherry, the Merry or *Honey Cherry. |
| 1895 W. Schlich Man. Forestry IV. iii. 382 The *honey fungus (Agaricus melleus, L.)..causes a well-known disease amongst conifers. 1919 W. E. Hiley Fungal Dis. Common Larch viii. 153 (heading) The effects of the honey fungus on its hosts. 1962 Amateur Gardening 27 Jan. 25/1 The honey fungus, Armillaria mellea, produces thick black threads or rhizomorphs somewhat similar to black leather laces. 1971 Homes & Gardens Sept. 97/2 Honey fungus or armillaria..sometimes attacks and kills the roots of trees and shrubs. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n., Nectaroscordum, *Honey-Garlic. |
| 1743 J. F. Gronovius Flora Virginica 194 Gleditsia,..*Honey-locust. 1759 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. (ed. 7) I, s.v. Gleditsia. The first sort [of Gleditsia] is very common in most parts of North America, where it is known by the Title of Honey Locust. 1788 Chambers' Cycl., Honey-locust. 1812 Brackenridge Views Louisiana (1814) 104 Beautiful woods of tall oak, walnut, mulberry, sassafras, honey locust. 1819 A. L. Hillhouse tr. Michaux's N. Amer. Sylva II. 137 In different parts of the United States, this species [sc. Gleditsia triacanthos] is called indifferently Sweet Locust and Honey Locust. 1838 [see gleditschia]. 1863 [see sweet locust (sweet a. and adv. C. 1 b)]. 1869 [see locust n. 5]. 1968 N. Taylor Guide to Garden Shrubs & Trees 135 Honey-Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos). A spiny-trunked native tree [i.e. native to U.S.A.] with small, numerous leaflets, greenish-yellow flowers, and a twisted, persistent pod. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Pomme de paradis, an excellent sweet apple..some also call so our *Honnymeale, or S. Johns apple. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 220 Apples..Pearmain, Pear-apple, Honey-meal. |
| 1938 J. S. Boyce Forest Pathology vi. 110 Armillaria mellea..known as the *honey mushroom, causes this disease. |
| 1845 Statist. Acc. Scotl. IV. 60 The..*honey pears which were produced in the orchard. |
| 1880 Jefferies Gt. Estate ii. 25 She watched the bees busy at the sweet-scented ‘*honey-plant’. |
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. iv. 91 Words more sweet, and yet more dangerous Then baites to fish, or *hony stalkes to sheepe. |
| 1849 D. Landsborough Pop. Hist. Brit. Seaweeds 111 In Scotland in the Lowlands, it is by some called badder-locks, and hen-ware, which may be a contraction of *honey-ware, the name given to it in the Orkney Islands. 1933 J. Gray Lowrie 34 He never said onything aboot tangles, hinniwirs, an' dills. |
B. adj. [from the
attrib. use in 7, and
fig. senses 4 and 5.]
1. Resembling, or of the nature of, honey; sweet, honeyed; lovable, dear.
lit. and
fig.| c 1450 Lydg. Secrees 378 Omerus with the hony mouth. c 1572 Gascoigne Fruites Warre (1831) 210 Rethorike that hoonnie harmelesse arte. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 16 A thousand honie secrets shalt thou know. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, i. ii. 179 My good sweet Hony Lord, ride with vs to morrow. 1609 B. Jonson Case is altered v. iv, My most honey gold! 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 20 And to bring you this honie example. a 1700 Dryden (J.), Why, honey bird, I bought him on purpose for thee. c 1822 Beddoes Poems, Pygmalion 162 As if sweet music's honiest heart did break! |
2. Comb. (
parasynthetic): see A. 6 c.
▸
honey trap n. orig. and chiefly
Brit. (originally in espionage, now
esp. in
Journalism) a stratagem in which an attractive person (usually a woman) entices another (usually a man) into revealing information, etc.; a person employing such a stratagem; (also more broadly) any stratagem in which an enticement is used to entrap a person in some way.
| 1974 ‘J. le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy vi. 48 ‘Long ago..I made a mistake and walked into a *honey trap.’ ‘He made an ass of himself with a Polish girl.’ 1986 Renaissance Q. 39 224 Sixtus had tries to suppress the Observants, and had failed. Now he tried a ‘honey-trap’. 1990 Pink Paper 10 Feb. 2/1 Kincora was used, allegedly, as a ‘homosexual honeytrap for intelligence gathering’. 1999 Independent 25 May ii. 13/1 The two men were thus easy prey for one of the oldest tricks in the tabloid repertoire: the honeytrap. Flattered by the attentions of a young and attractive undercover female reporter, they chattered away as a hidden tape recorder turned in the background. |
▪ II. honey, v. arch. [f. prec. n.] † 1. trans. To make sweet with or as with honey; to sweeten, dulcify.
lit. and
fig. Obs.| 13.. Augustin 496 in Horstmann Alteng. Leg. (1878) I. 70 Wiþ hony of heuene ihonied swete. c 1450 Lydg. Secrees 882 Sugryd galle honyed with Collusyoun. 1622 T. Scott Belg. Pismire 49 The brimme whereof shee hath cunningly hunnied with faire pretences of seeming pietie. 1645 Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith xv. (1845) 164 The law of God, honeyed with the love of Christ. |
† 2. To address as ‘honey’, to use endearing terms to.
Obs.| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. i. i. Wks. 1856 I. 75 Canst thou not hony me with fluent speach? 1631 Chettle Hoffman (N.), If he be no worse; that is doe worse, And honey me in my death-stinging thoughts. |
b. absol. or intr. To use honeyed or endearing words; to talk fondly or sweetly.
arch. and
U.S.| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 93 Honying and making loue Ouer the nasty Stye. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 115 One Discuss'd his tutor, rough to common men But honeying at the whisper of a lord. 1884 ― Becket Prol., The King came honeying about her. |
† 3. trans. To coax, flatter, tickle, delight.
Obs.| 1604 Marston & Webster Malcontent iii. ii, O unpeer⁓able! invention! rare! Thou god of policy! it honeys me. 1605 Chapman, etc. Eastw. Hoe iii. ii. D iv b, Was euer Rascall honnied so with poison? 1622 Fletcher Sp. Curate iv. ii, I am honyed with the project. |