Honeymoon

How to spell honeymoon

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce honeymoon

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does honeymoon mean?

1. nounA holiday taken by a couple immediately after their wedding.
2. nounAn early period of harmony or goodwill before difficulties appear.

Honeymoon in a sentence

• They spent their honeymoon on a quiet island off the coast.

• The new manager enjoyed a brief honeymoon before the budget cuts began.

• The cost of the wedding left little money for a long honeymoon.

• Every government has a honeymoon with the press that rarely lasts.

Where does honeymoon come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English compound, joining the Old English words 'honey' and 'moon', and it appears in writing from the middle of the 1500s. The original sense was not about a holiday at all but about the temperament of a new marriage: the tender affection of newlyweds was likened to honey for its sweetness, while 'moon' carried the older idea of a lunar month and, more pointedly, the suggestion that this sweetness would wane just as the moon does after it is full. Early writers used it almost cynically, warning that the first month of fondness would soon fade. Only later, especially during the 1800s, did the word shift toward the modern meaning of a celebratory trip taken just after the wedding. The same logic survives in the figurative 'honeymoon period', the brief stretch of goodwill a new leader or project enjoys before reality sets in. Because both halves are ordinary words spelled exactly as they sound, the only thing to remember is that it is written as one solid word.

How the word is built

• honey (sweetness)
• moon (lunar month)