# honey

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhʌni/ · frequency rank #3,814

## Definitions
1. A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans.
2. A variety of this substance.
3. Nectar.
4. Something sweet or desirable.
5. A term of affection.
6. A woman, especially an attractive one.
7. A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow color, like that of most types of (the sweet substance) honey.
8. Precum; pre-ejaculate.

## Etymology
From Middle English hony, honi, from Old English huniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hunag, from Proto-Germanic *hunagą (compare Saterland Frisian Hunich, West Frisian hunich, German Low German Honnig, German Honig), from earlier *hunangą (compare North Frisian honning, hönning, West Frisian huning, Dutch honing, Swedish honung), from Proto-Indo-European *kn̥h₂onk-o-s, from *kn̥h₂ónks.
Cognate with Middle Welsh canecon (“gold”), Latin canicae pl (“bran”), Tocharian B kronkśe (“bee”), Albanian qengjë (“beehive”), Ancient Greek κνῆκος (knêkos, “safflower”), Northern Kurdish şan (“beehive”), Northern Luri گونج (gonj, “bee”), Finnish hunaja.

## Easily confused with
- **hoy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hoy)
- **hope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hope)
- **hong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hong)
- **hose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hose)
- **Howe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-howe)
- **Huey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-huey)
- **hove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hove)
- **honk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-honk)
- **hotel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hotel)
- **honor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-honor)
- **hopes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hopes)
- **hoped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hoped)
- **horny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-horny)
- **hover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hover)
- **howdy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-howdy)
- **hoses** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hoses)
- **hotly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hotly)
- **honky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-honky)
- **hoyer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hoyer)
- **hunky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-hunky)

## Common misspellings (7)
`hhoney`, `hnoey`, `hoeny`, `honeyy`, `honney`, `honye`, `ohney`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/honey