honeydewn.

Brit.

/ˈhʌnɪdjuː/,

/ˈhʌnɪdʒuː/, U.S.

/ˈhəniˌd(j)u/

Forms: see honey n. and adj. and dew n.

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: honey n., dew n.

Etymology: < honey n. + dew n.Attested earlier as a surname: Robert Honiedewe (1230–40). Earlier currency is perhaps implied by quot. eOE at honey n. 2a (if hunig is interpreted as an elliptical gloss (standing for hunigdeaw ), complementing rather than contrasting with mildeaw : see mildew n. 1). Compare Middle Dutch hōnichdau (Dutch honingdauw, †honigdauw), Middle Low German hōnichdouw, German Honigtau, Old Icelandic (in late sources) hunangsdǫgg (compare earlier hunangsfall in the same sense).

1. A sugar-rich sticky liquid excreted by certain insects (esp. aphids), plant galls, and fungi, sometimes found on the leaves and stems of trees and plants, and formerly thought to originate from the sky in a manner similar to dew; cf. manna n.¹ 3d. Also: a dark mould caused by various fungi which feed upon this substance.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > [noun] > viscous substance > on trees or plants

guma1400

honeyfall1510

honeydew1526

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > family Aphis > substance excreted

honeydew1526

spittle of the stars1577

mildew1658

1526 Grete Herball ccclvi. sig. Aa.i^v/2 Terediabin..is a dewe descending from the heuen and lyketh moche to hony that is greyned and falleth often on the trees... This hony dewe hath vertue to laxe, & mollyfye the wombe.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 180^v The leaues..bedewed with Hony... In the morning, our common people call it Manna, or Hony dewe, cleauing to the leaues before the rising of the sunne.

1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum xvi. ii. 1391 Manna also, or a kinde thereof, which we call in English a hony dew, found more plentifully on the Oken leaves then on any other trees.

1657 S. Purchas Theatre Flying-insects 133 Pliny affirmed the Hony-dew to bee either the sweat of the heaven, or the slaver or spittle of the stars, or the moisture of the aire purging it self.

1720 R. Bradley New Improvem. Planting & Gardening: Pt. 3 (ed. 3) v. 72 Peach-Trees..their Leaves curl'd up in the Spring..at that time cover'd with a kind of Honey-Dew.

1789 G. White Let. in Nat. Hist. Selborne 300 In the sultry season of 1783 honey-dews were so frequent as to deface and destroy the beauties of my garden.

1842 C. W. Johnson Farmer's Encycl. v. 428/1 Various successful applications of liquids to plants, in order to prevent the occurrence of the honey-dew and similar diseases.

1883 J. G. Wood in Good Words Dec. 763/1 The sweet juice which is exuded by the aphis..is popularly known as ‘honey-dew’.

1947 R. Bedichek Adventures with Texas Naturalist 268 A honeydew which falls as a golden mist sweeter than saccharin.

2006 Ireland's Own Feb. 48/3 Black and Yellow Meadow ants rear plant lice and greenfly..then milk them for honeydew.

2. Any substance (real or imaginary) resembling or likened to this liquid, esp. in being delightfully sweet; esp. manna (manna n.¹ 1a) or nectar. Also: honey.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > nectar

mildeweOE

honeydew1533

nectar1555

honeysuckle1607

honeysuck1608

nectar flood1610

nectar fountain1611

honey-rore1632

honey1733

1533 in tr. Erasmus Enchiridion Militis Christiani sig. B.iij^v Manna is a hony dewe wherwith the chyldren of israel were fed. xl. yeres.

1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iii. i. 112 Fresh teares Stood on her cheeks, as doth the honie dew, Vpon a gathred Lillie almost withered.

1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 65 Their stomack..wherein they [sc. bees]..keepe their Honny dew which they haue gathered.

a1657 G. Daniel Poems (1878) I. 52 Sweet, as the Hony-deaw, which Hybla hath.

a1743 D. Neal Hist. New-Eng. (1747) II. xiv. 201 They live upon the Sweets of Flowers, into which they thrust their long Bills, and with a longer Tongue lick off the Honey Dews.

1785 Lady's Mag. Aug. 437 The snowy breast where Cupids trip And taste the honey dew.

1816 S. T. Coleridge Kubla Khan in Christabel 58 For he on honey-dew hath fed.

1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust I. xxii. 239 Little step and lofty leap Through honey-dew and fragrance.

1922 A. Jekyll Kitchen Ess. 93 It was known in the Vienna of happier days as a Venus Torte, and might be served with honey-dew and the milk of Paradise when procurable.

1990 D. Mabey et al. Thorson's Org. Consumer Guide ii. vii. 99 New Zealand Natural Food Co. make a raw organic honeydew which comes from bees working in the beech forests of the southern mountains of New Zealand.

3. figurative and in figurative contexts, esp. a delightful or desirable thing.

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the mind > emotion > pleasure > quality of being pleasant or pleasurable > [noun] > source of pleasure

honeycombOE

sweetness?c1225

dainty1340

sweet1377

delicec1390

lust1390

pleasancec1390

pleasingc1390

well-queema1400

well-queemnessa1400

douceurc1400

delectation?a1425

pleasure1443

pleaserc1447

delectabilitiesa1500

deliciositiesa1500

honeydew1559

delicacy1586

fancy1590

sugar candy1591

regalo1622

happiness1637

deliciousness1651

complacence1667

regalea1677

sweetener1741

bon-bon1856

Bones1869

jam1871

true love1893

nuts1910

barrel of fun (laughs, etc.)1915

G-spot1983

1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Tresilian f. ii^v The hunny dewe of Fortune so fast on vs dyd drop.

1581 E. Hutchins Davids Sling against Great Goliah 161 Moisten my hart with the honie-dew of thy great & rich grace.

1604 T. Dekker Magnificent Entertainm. sig. B3 He was held vnworthy euer after to sucke the Hony dew of Peace, that..would offer to play the Droane.

1657 M. Lawrence Use & Pract. Faith vii. 78 The Soul gathers many sweet Honey-dews of Gods unchangeable love and favour in Christ.

1794 Politics for People (1795) II. 10 The delicious honey-dew of his soul-soothing consolation.

1830 F. D. Hemans Fount. Obliv. in Songs of Affections 135 The cool honey-dews of dreamless rest.

1878 J. A. Symonds Sonnets M. Angelo 2 On bitter honey-dews of tears.

1922 J. Blewett Poems 13 ‘I have been thinking of a girl I knew When I was young,’ grey Rupert said... ‘A soft warm thing she was, all honey dew.’

2008 E. S. Sulek Words of Father 292 You're forever so special, a sweet honeydew.

4. Originally U.S. = honeydew tobacco n. at Compounds.

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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > [noun] > other types of tobacco

craccus1617

mavis1641

shoot-tobacco1666

funk1677

black tobacco1698

kite's-foot1788

dark leaf1829

bird's eye1834

bright leaf1834

honeydew tobacco1835

seed leaf1837

long-tails1839

honeydew1843

caporal1850

dogleg tobacco1856

dogleg1863

Boer1881

burley1881

black boy1898

snus1916

1843 J. Lumsden Let. 15 May in Amer. Memoranda (1844) 14 The manufacturing of the..pigtail, honey-dew, and other varieties of the stimulating and soothing herb.

1894 Daily News 12 Mar. 6/2 I took up a paper containing 2 oz. of sunflaked honeydew.

2011 Hindustan Times Blogs (Nexis) 5 Feb. It's mostly habit that makes one..fag ‘taste’ different from that of another company; it's not about whether it's ‘honey dew’ or ‘Turkish blend’.

a. = honeydew melon n. at Compounds.

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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > gourd > [noun] > melon > musk melons

muskmelon1573

sugar-melon1600

cantaloupe1739

rock melon1789

mango1866

sweet melon1883

spanspek1886

honeydew1916

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > gourd > melon > other types of melon

melopepon1555

muskmelon1573

macock1588

sugar-melon1600

cantaloupe1739

rock cantaloupe1776

rock melon1789

nutmeg melon1811

citron1826

pie melon1857

sweet melon1883

spanspek1886

honeydew1916

pepino1922

Ogen melon1967

1916 Country Gentleman 2 Sept. 1615/1 A new melon... The Honey Dew is the result of crossing the Rocky Ford cantaloupe with a South African melon somewhat resembling a Casaba.

1962 T. W. Whitaker & G. N. Davis Cucurbits x. 207 The cultivars ‘Hales's Best’ and ‘Honey Dew’ were..low in soluble solids.

2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 12 Aug. d2/4 Woman melon is a fragrant yellow-fleshed fruit the size of a honeydew.

b. A pale yellowish-green colour resembling that of the flesh of a honeydew melon. Occasionally also: an orange colour. Cf. melon n.¹ 1b.

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the world > matter > colour > named colours > green or greenness > [noun] > shade or tint of green > yellowish green

popinjayc1484

parrot green1646

gosling-green1756

siskin green1757

Pomona green1788

chrysoprase1835

Georgian green1918

honeydew1920

Pomona1969

the world > matter > colour > named colours > orange > [noun]

orange colour1512

orange1557

zinc orange1918

honeydew1949

1920 Naugatuck (Connecticut) Daily News 21 June 2/4 (caption) This charmingly simple Patrician frock is of honeydew fantasi piped with white fantasi.

1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 19 Oct. 5/6 (advt.) Combination dark tones and lighter hues, such as algonquin, honeydew, jade.

1949 Brit. Colour Council Dict. Colours Int. Decoration III. 13 Honeydew, a colour name..adopted here as a more attractive name for B.C.C. standard Carrot.

2003 A. Halliday No Touch Monkey! 137 The breezy corner room that we rented in a wooden hotel not far from the ocean was painted a calming shade of honeydew.

Compounds

honeydew melon n. any of several cultivated varieties of melon, Cucumis melo, esp. of the Inodorus group, typically having a smooth ivory or yellow skin, a round to oval shape, and sweet greenish or white flesh.

ΚΠ

1894 Alton (Illinois) Daily Tel. 10 Aug. Tenie Head Honeydew melons at Crowe's market.

1962 T. W. Whitaker & G. N. Davis Cucurbits ix. 189 All ‘Honey Dew’ melons should have an adequate ethylene treatment.

2011 San Antonio (Texas) Express-News (Nexis) 14 July (Conexión section) 11 cx With honeydew melons and cantaloupes readily available and in season, why not give the sweet and fibrous fruit another look?

honeydew tobacco n. originally U.S. any of various kinds or blends of (typically sweetened) tobacco, originally and esp. one sweetened with molasses.

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