hony

English

Noun

hony (uncountable)

1. Obsolete form of honey.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 49, column 2:

     Fal. Thou ſay'ſt true Lad: is not my Hoſteſſe of the Tauerne a moſt ſweet Wench? / Prin. As is the hony, my old Lad of the Caſtle: and is not a Buffe Ierkin a moſt ſweet robe of durance?

Middle English

Alternative forms

• honi, huni, hunni, huny, huniȝ, huni, hunig

Etymology

From Old English huniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hunag, from Proto-Germanic *hunagą, dissimilated variant of *hunangą, from Proto-Indo-European *kn̥h₂ónks.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhuniː/, /ˈhoːniː/

Noun

hony (uncountable)

1. Honey (fluid made from nectar)
2. Nectar; the secretion of flowers.
3. (figurative) Something sweet or appealing.
4. (rare) A term of affection; compare modern English honey.

Derived terms

• hony comb
• hony-swete
• honyed
• honyly
• honysoke
• honysokel

 

Descendants

• English: honey (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: honey, hony, huny, hinny
• Yola: henee, honi

References

• “hǒnī, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-31.