3. Chastity; modesty. Chaucer.
To lay . . . siege to the honesty of this Ford's wife.
Shak. 4. (Bot.) Satin flower; the name of two cruciferous herbs having large flat pods, the round shining partitions
of which are more beautiful than the blossom; — called also lunary and moonwort. Lunaria biennis is
common honesty; L. rediva is perennial honesty.
Syn. — Integrity; probity; uprightness; trustiness; faithfulness; honor; justice; equity; fairness; candor; plain-
dealing; veracity; sincerity.
Honewort
(Hone"wort`) n. (Bot.) An umbelliferous plant of the genus Sison (S. Amomum); — so called
because used to cure a swelling called a hone.
Honey
(Hon"ey) n. [OE. honi, huni, AS. hunig; akin to OS. honeg, D. & G. honig, OHG. honag, honang,
Icel. hunang, Sw. håning, Dan. honning, cf. Gr. dust, Skr. kaa grain.]
1. A sweet viscid fluid, esp. that collected by bees from flowers of plants, and deposited in the cells of
the honeycomb.
2. That which is sweet or pleasant, like honey.
The honey of his language.
Shak. 3. Sweet one; — a term of endearment. Chaucer.
Honey, you shall be well desired in Cyprus.
Shak. Honey is often used adjectively or as the first part of compound; as, honeydew or honey dew; honey
guide or honeyguide; honey locust or honey- locust.
Honey ant (Zoöl.), a small ant found in the Southwestern United States, and in Mexico, living in subterranean
formicares. There are larger and smaller ordinary workers, and others, which serve as receptacles or
cells for the storage of honey, their abdomens becoming distended to the size of a currant. These, in
times of scarcity, regurgitate the honey and feed the rest. — Honey badger (Zoöl.), the ratel. — Honey
bear. (Zoöl.) See Kinkajou. — Honey buzzard (Zoöl.), a bird related to the kites, of the genus Pernis.
The European species is P. apivorus; the Indian or crested honey buzzard is P. ptilorhyncha. They
feed upon honey and the larvæ of bees. Called also bee hawk, bee kite. — Honey creeper (Zoöl.),
one of numerous species of small, bright, colored, passerine birds of the family Cœrebidæ, abundant in
Central and South America. — Honey eater (Zoöl.), one of numerous species of small passerine birds
of the family Meliphagidæ, abundant in Australia and Oceania; — called also honeysucker. — Honey
flower (Bot.), an evergreen shrub of the genus Melianthus, a native of the Cape of Good Hope. The
flowers yield much honey. — Honey guide (Zoöl.), one of several species of small birds of the family
Indicatoridæ, inhabiting Africa and the East Indies. They have the habit of leading persons to the nests
to wild bees. Called also honeybird, and indicator. — Honey harvest, the gathering of honey from
hives, or the honey which is gathered. Dryden. — Honey kite. (Zoöl.) See Honey buzzard — Honey
locust (Bot.), a North American tree (Gleditschia triacanthos), armed with thorns, and having long
pods with a sweet pulp between the seeds. — Honey month. Same as Honeymoon. — Honey
weasel (Zoöl.), the ratel.
Honey
(Hon"ey) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Honeyed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Honeying.] To be gentle, agreeable,
or coaxing; to talk fondly; to use endearments; also, to be or become obsequiously courteous or complimentary; to
fawn. "Honeying and making love." Shak.
Rough to common men,
But honey at the whisper of a lord.
Tennyson.
