Definition of 'honey'
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British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
honey in British English
noun
1.
2.
any similar sweet substance, esp the nectar of flowers
3.
anything that is sweet or delightful
5. informal, mainly US and Canadian
something considered to be very good of its kind
a honey of a car
6. (modifier)
of, concerned with, or resembling honey
verbWord forms: honeys, honeying, honeyed or honied
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
honey-like (ˈhoney-ˌlike) adjective
Word origin
Old English huneg; related to Old Norse hunang, Old Saxon hanig, German Honig, Greek knēkos yellowish, Sanskrit kánaka- gold
Word Frequency
honey in American English
nounWord forms: plural ˈhoneys
1.
a thick, sweet, syrupy substance that bees make as food from the nectar of flowers and store in honeycombs
adjective
5.
of or like honey
6.
sweet; dear
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈhoneyed or ˈhonied, ˈhoneying
7.
to make sweet or pleasant as with honey
8.
to speak sweetly or lovingly to
9.
to flatter
verb intransitive
10.
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME honi, hunig < OE hunig, akin to Ger honig (OHG honang) < IE base *kenekó-, honey-yellow > Sans kāñcana-, golden
Word Frequency
honey in American English
(ˈhʌni) (noun plural honeys, verb honeyed or honied, honeying)
noun
1.
3.
the nectar of flowers
4.
any of various similarly sweet, viscid products produced by insects or in other ways
7. (sometimes cap)
an affectionate or familiar term of address (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., esp. by a male to a female)
adjective
9.
of, like, or pertaining to honey; sweet
10.
containing honey or flavored or sweetened with honey
transitive verb
11. informal (often fol. by up)
to talk flatteringly or endearingly to
12.
to sweeten or flavor with or as if with honey
intransitive verb
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
honeyful adjective
honeyless
adjective
honeylike
adjective
Word origin
[bef. 900; ME hony, OE hunig; c. D, G honig, ON hunang; akin to Gk knēkós pale yellow, tawny]Examples of 'honey' in a sentence
honey
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honey
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In other languages
honey
- American English: honey /ˈhʌni/
- Arabic: عَسَل
- Brazilian Portuguese: mel
- Chinese: 蜂蜜
- Croatian: med
- Czech: med
- Danish: honning
- Dutch: honing
- European Spanish: miel
- Finnish: hunaja
- French: miel
- German: Honig
- Greek: μέλι
- Italian: miele
- Japanese: 蜂蜜
- Korean: 벌꿀
- Norwegian: honning
- Polish: miód
- European Portuguese: mel
- Romanian: miere
- Russian: мед
- Latin American Spanish: miel
- Swedish: honung
- Thai: น้ำผึ้ง
- Turkish: bal
- Ukrainian: мед
- Vietnamese: mật ong
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Definition of honey from the Collins English Dictionary
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