Etymology: Cognate with Old Icelandic hein, Swedish regional hen, Old Danish heen (Danish regional or archaic hen) whetstone, ultimately < the same Indo-European base as classical Latin cōt-, cōs whetstone, cōtēs (later cautēs) rock, cliff, catus sharp, Sanskrit śāṇa whetstone, śā- to sharpen.In Old English a strong feminine (ō -stem). The word is attested only in charter bounds (in sense 1), where it is often modified by a colour adjective (most commonly red adj., but also grey adj.). Also attested early in place names (apparently chiefly in sense 1), as Redehane , Dorset (c1086; now Redhone), Sutton' atte hone , Kent (1240; now Sutton-at-Hone), Hedehone , Sussex (1271; now Headhone Farm), La Greyhone , Oxfordshire (13th cent.; now Greyhone Wood), etc., and in surnames derived from them (compare quots. 1252, 1332 at sense 1). Earlier currency of sense 3 is perhaps implied by the place name Honore , Buckinghamshire (1291; also Hanora (14th cent. in a copy of a charter of the second half of the 12th cent.); now Honor End), whose original meaning may have been ‘whetstone-bank’ (for the second element see ore n.⁴); the location is near a quarry from which is obtained a fine-grained sandstone of a type used for whetstones.

Etymology: Probably < hone v.¹ (compare discussion at that entry).

Etymology: Origin unknown. Compare honewort n. and discussion at that entry.

Etymology: Origin unknown. Compare hone n.², which probably shows a derivative of this word, and hence implies slightly earlier currency. The evidence of rhymes in Middle English and of the forms (for the verb and noun) found later in Scots generally suggests that the word showed Middle English close ō , hence there is unlikely to be any relationship with hone v.²

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman honer, hoyner and Old French hoingnier, Old French, Middle French hoigner, Middle French hongnier to mutter, grumble, grunt (12th cent.; in later regional use also to complain, to weep, to snivel, to groan, moan, whimper, whine), of unknown origin.

Etymology: < hone n.¹ Compare earlier honer n.Older Scots haning (in haning stane whetstone: see Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Haning stane n.) suggests earlier currency of a verb derived from hone n.¹ (compare α. forms at hone n.¹).

Etymology: Apparently an alteration of home v. (see home v. 5a), probably arising by folk-etymological association with hone v.³