honeymoon

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 French lune de miel, itself a calque of the English term.

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌn.iˌmuːn/

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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:

     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.

   Synonym: wedding journey

   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. (by extension) 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.

   • 2024 September 21, Michael Savage, “Honeymoon over: Keir Starmer now less popular than Rishi Sunak”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     It suggests any honeymoon for the new government is over, with falls in approval ratings across the board for the senior figures in the cabinet.

• Not to be confused with honey moon.

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

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, chapter XVIII, in The Little Lady of the Big House:

     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.

• honeymooner
• honeymoon period
• honeymoon rhinitis

• babymoon
• familymoon