honeymoon

honeymoon

See also: honey moon

English

Etymology

From earlier hony moone, originally denoting the period of time following a wedding, equivalent to honey +‎ moon. The original reference was to affection waning like the moon, but later the sense became "the first month, or moon after marriage", which tends to be the sweetest.

Compare Middle Low German suckermânt (“honeymoon”, literally “sugar-month”), German Low German Hönnigweken (“honeymoon”, literally “honey-weeks”). The German Honigmond (literally “honey-moon”) is a calque of the English term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌn.iˌmuːn/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

honeymoon (plural honeymoons)

1. The period of time immediately following a marriage.
   • 1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “Chapter XXII: A New Departure in Flavorings”, in Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, published August 1909 (11th printing), OCLC 270822977:

     The new minister and his wife were a young, pleasant-faced couple, still on their honeymoon, and full of all good and beautiful enthusiasms for their chosen lifework.

2. A trip taken by a newly married couple during this period.

   We went to Greece for our honeymoon.

   • 1923, Robert Ervin Howard, Unhand Me, Villain: A Romance:

     I will say, 'Sir, I am going to marry your daughter. Be silent, sir! I have decided to do this and I will not be balked by a gouty old father-in-law. I want you to understand that from now on I am the master of this house. You may write out a check for ten thousand dollars for our honeymoon.'

3. A period of goodwill at the beginning of a new term or relationship (e.g. towards a newly elected politician or in respect of a new business arrangement).

   Now that the honeymoon is over, it’s time for us to get down to the business at hand.

   The honeymoon period came to a swift end when the legislation was introduced.

   • 1919, John Reed, Ten Days That Shook the World:

     But the “honeymoon” was short. The propertied classes wanted merely a political revolution, which would take the power from the Tsar and give it to them. They wanted Russia to be a constitutional Republic, like France or the United States; or a constitutional Monarchy, like England. On the other hand, the masses of the people wanted real industrial and agrarian democracy.

   • 1977 January 12, Gerald Ford, Ford's farewell address,

     It was here, surrounded by such friends, that the distinguished Chief Justice swore me in as Vice President on December 6, 1973. It was here I returned 8 months later as your President to ask not for a honeymoon, but for a good marriage.

Derived terms

• Florida honeymoon
• honeymoon fly
• honeymoon palsy
• honeymoon period

 

Descendants

• → French: lune de miel (calque)
  • → German: Honigmond (calque)
  • → Turkish: balayı (calque)

Translations

period of time immediately following a marriage

Arabic: شَهْر عَسَل‎ m (šahr ʿasal) Armenian: մեղրամիս (hy) (mełramis) Azerbaijani: evliliyin ilk ayı Belarusian: мядо́вы ме́сяц m (mjadóvy mjésjac) Bulgarian: ме́ден ме́сец m (méden mésec) Catalan: lluna de mel f Chinese: Mandarin: 蜜月 (zh) (mìyuè) Czech: líbánky (cs) f pl Danish: hvedebrødsdage (da) c Dutch: wittebroodsweken (nl) pl Esperanto: miela monato, mielmonato Estonian: mesinädalad Faroese: fyrsta hjúnalagstíðin f, hunangsmánaður m Finnish: kuherruskuukausi (fi) French: lune de miel (fr) f Georgian: თაფლობისთვე (taplobistve) German: Flitterwochen (de) f pl Greek: μήνας του μέλιτος (el) m (mínas tou mélitos) Hungarian: mézeshetek (hu) pl Icelandic: hveitibrauðsdagar m pl Ido: mieltempo Indonesian: bulan madu (id) Irish: mí na meala f Italian: luna di miele (it) f Japanese: 蜜月 (ja) (みつげつ, mitsugetsu), ハネムーン (ja) (hanemūn), 新婚 (ja) (しんこん, shinkon) Kazakh: бал айы (bal aiy) Korean: 밀월(蜜月) (ko) (mirwol), 신혼(新婚) (ko) (sinhon), 허니문 (ko) (heonimun) Latvian: medus mēnesis Macedonian: меден месец m (meden mesec) Malay: bulan madu, بولن مادو‎ (bulan madu) Maori: hanimunu Norman: leune dé myi f (Jersey) Norwegian: Bokmål: hvetebrødsdager m pl Persian: ماه عسل‎ (fa) (mâh-e 'asal) Polish: miesiąc miodowy (pl) m Portuguese: lua de mel f Romanian: lună de miere (ro) f Russian: медо́вый ме́сяц (ru) m (medóvyj mésjac) Scottish Gaelic: mìos nam pòg m or f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: медени месец m, медени мјесец m Roman: medeni mesec m, medeni mjesec m Slovak: medové týždne m pl Slovene: medeni mesec m, medeni tedni m pl Spanish: luna de miel (es) Swedish: smekmånad (sv) c Tagalog: pulot-gata Turkish: balayı (tr) Ukrainian: медо́вий мі́сяць m (medóvyj mísjacʹ) Vietnamese: tuần trăng mật (vi) Volapük: primagloravigs, primagloramuls, (travel) matedatäv

trip taken by a newly wed married couple

Armenian: մեղրամիս (hy) (mełramis) Azerbaijani: bal ayı Basque: ezkon bidaia Belarusian: вясе́льнае падаро́жжа n (vjasjélʹnaje padaróžža), мядо́вы ме́сяц m (mjadóvy mjésjac) Chinese: Mandarin: 蜜月旅行 (mìyuè lǚxíng) Czech: svatební cesta f Danish: bryllupsrejse (da) c Dutch: huwelijksreis (nl) f or m Esperanto: mielmonato, nuptovojaĝo Estonian: pulmareis Faroese: brúdleypsferð f Finnish: häämatka (fi) French: voyage de noces (fr) m German: Hochzeitsreise (de) f, Flitterwochen (de) f pl Greek: μήνας του μέλιτος (el) m (mínas tou mélitos) Hebrew: יֶרַח דְּבַשׁ‎ (he) m (yérakh dvash) Hungarian: nászút (hu) Icelandic: brúðkaupsferð (is) f Ido: mieltempo Indonesian: bulan madu (id) Irish: mí na meala f Italian: viaggio di nozze m Japanese: 新婚旅行 (しんこんりょこう, shinkon ryokō), ハネムーン (ja) (hanemūn) Kazakh: бал айы (bal aiy) Korean: 신혼여행(新婚旅行) (ko) (sinhonyeohaeng), 신혼려행(新婚旅行) (sinhollyeohaeng) (North Korea) Macedonian: свадбено патување m (svadbeno patuvanje) Norwegian: Bokmål: bryllupsreise m or f Nynorsk: bryllaupsreis f, bryllaupsreise f Polish: miesiąc miodowy (pl) m, podróż poślubna (pl) f Portuguese: lua de mel f Russian: сва́дебное путеше́ствие n (svádebnoje putešéstvije), медо́вый ме́сяц (ru) m (medóvyj mésjac) Scottish Gaelic: mìos nam pòg m or f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: брачно путовање n Roman: bračno putovanje n Slovak: svadobná cesta f Spanish: viaje de novios m, luna de miel (es) f Swedish: bröllopsresa (sv) c Turkish: balayı (tr) Ukrainian: весі́льна по́дорож f (vesílʹna pódorož), медо́вий мі́сяць m (medóvyj mísjacʹ) Welsh: mis mêl m

period of unusually good feelings

Armenian: մեղրամիս (hy) (mełramis) Dutch: wittebroodsweken (nl) pl Estonian: mesinädalad Finnish: kuherruskuukausi (fi) German: Flitterwochen (de) f pl Hungarian: mézeshetek (hu) pl Russian: медо́вый ме́сяц (ru) m (medóvyj mésjac)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: (please verify) mielmonato

Verb

honeymoon (third-person singular simple present honeymoons, present participle honeymooning, simple past and past participle honeymooned)

1. To have a honeymoon (a trip taken by a couple after wedding).

   My parents honeymooned at Niagara falls.

   • 1916, Jack London, The Little Lady of the Big House, Chapter XVIII,

     No sooner were they married than Dick fitted out his schooner, the All Away, and away the blessed pair of them went, honeymooning from Bordeaux to Hongkong.

Derived terms

• honeymooner
• honeymoon period
• honeymoon rhinitis

Translations

to travel on a honeymoon

Dutch: (please verify) een huwelijksreis maken German: flittern (de) (colloquial) Malay: berbulan madu Maori: hanimunu Turkish: balayına gitmek

See also

• babymoon
• familymoon