Where Does the Word Honeymoon Come From? The Real History (and the Mead Myth)
Where does the word honeymoon come from? It's an English compound of "honey" and "moon," first recorded in the 1540s, when it meant the sweet, tender stretch of time right after a wedding. "Honey" stood for sweetness. "Moon" most likely stood for a month, or for the moon itself, which is full for only a moment before it starts to wane. Either way, the joke built into the word was that the sweetness doesn't last forever. You may have heard that the word comes from an ancient custom of giving newlyweds a month's supply of mead, a drink made from honey. That's a popular story, but it isn't supported by the dictionary evidence.
In this article, we'll trace the word from its first known appearance in a 1546 book of proverbs, through Samuel Johnson's famous 1755 dictionary, to today's beach trips and "honeymoon phases." We'll look at what each half of the word means, weigh the two main theories, explain where the mead myth falls short, and see how other languages say the same thing.
Where does the word honeymoon come from? The short answer
Here's what the dictionaries agree on.
- It's English, and it's old. Dictionary.com says honeymoon was "first recorded in 1540–50; honey + moon," and notes it was spelled "hony moone" back then.
- It first meant a time, not a trip. It described the tender early period of a marriage.
- The "moon" part had a twist. The American Heritage Dictionary suggests the word is "perhaps from a comparison of the moon, which wanes as soon as it is full," to a newly married couple's affections, which are most tender right after the wedding.
- The trip came later. Today, the first meaning in the American Heritage Dictionary is "a holiday or trip taken by a newly married couple."
So the honeymoon was originally a sweet, short-lived season, named with a gentle wink. The vacation meaning grew out of it.
The first record: John Heywood's proverbs, 1546
The earliest known use of the word comes from John Heywood, an English writer best remembered for his proverbs and epigrams. In 1546, he published a long poem made of everyday sayings, a dialogue about marriage that's now known as his Proverbs. In it, one speaker describes a couple's early happiness and says:
"it was yet but hony moone"
You can read the line in the 1874 edition of The Proverbs of John Heywood, edited by Julian Sharman and digitized from Cornell University Library's copy. It appears in Chapter 7 of the poem.
What Heywood meant
"It was yet but honeymoon" means something like "it was still only the honeymoon," or "they were still in the sweet early days." The next lines of the poem make clear that trouble was coming. In other words, the very first recorded use of "honeymoon" already carries the idea that it's a temporary, too-good-to-last phase.
That's an important clue. The word didn't start as a purely romantic phrase. It started with a knowing smile, the kind of thing older relatives might say about newlyweds: "Ah, they're still in the honeymoon."
Reading the line in context
Heywood's book isn't a list of proverbs. It's a long poem in rhyming couplets in which two speakers talk about marriage, and they pack their conversation with sayings people already used. That's why the line is such good evidence. A proverb collection captures phrases that were already circulating in everyday speech, so "honeymoon" was probably in use before Heywood wrote it down.
The spelling can look odd at first. Here's a quick decoder for the lines around it, which you can find in the 1874 edition:
- "hony moone" is "honeymoon." Spelling wasn't standardized in the 1500s, and extra "e"s were common.
- "quoth I" means "said I," an old way of marking who's speaking.
- "ere this braunch of blisse could reach any roote" means "before this branch of bliss could take root." The happy start never had a chance to grow deep.
Put together, the passage is a little story in miniature: the couple were happy, but it was "only honeymoon," and before their happiness could take root, trouble arrived. The very first honeymoon in English is a cautionary tale.
A second early example
Sharman's introduction to the 1874 edition also quotes a line from a later stage comedy, Eastward Hoe, in which a character says "It is but hony-moone yet with her ladiship," and goes on to list the coach horses, clothes and jewels she still has left. Again, the joke is that the good times are temporary. The money, like the sweetness, will run out.
Honey + moon: what each half means
To understand the word, it helps to look at each half separately. A word made by joining two existing words is called a compound, and honeymoon is a simple one.
| Part | Old English or earlier form | Meaning in "honeymoon" |
|---|---|---|
| Honey | Old English hunig | Sweetness; also a long-standing term of endearment |
| Moon | Old English mōna | A month, or the moon's cycle from full to waning |
| Month (related word) | Old English mōnath | A month, lunar or calendar |
Honey: sweetness and affection
Honey has long been a symbol of everything sweet and pleasant. The American Heritage Dictionary traces honey to Middle English honi and Old English hunig, and one of its senses is "sweetheart; dear," used as a term of endearment. Our guide to terms of endearment covers how words like honey, sweetheart and darling came to be used for people we love, and our list of food nicknames shows that sweet foods are still a favorite source of pet names.
Moon: the moon and the month
"Moon" and "month" are close relatives. The American Heritage Dictionary traces moon to Old English mōna, and one of its senses of "moon" is simply "a month, especially a lunar month." It traces month to Old English mōnath. Both entries point to the same Indo-European root, listed in the dictionary as mē-. The Anglo-Saxon dictionary of Bosworth and Toller, now published online by Charles University in Prague, defines Old English mónaþ as "a month, lunar or calendar."
That close link makes sense. Before modern calendars, people tracked time by the moon. One full cycle, from new moon to full moon and back, takes about a month. So when someone in the 1500s said "moon," listeners could hear both the moon in the sky and a month of time.
Two theories: the waning moon or the first month
Dictionaries offer two closely related readings of the "moon" in honeymoon. They aren't really rivals; they may both have been in speakers' minds at once.
Theory 1: the moon that wanes
The American Heritage Dictionary suggests the word compares a marriage's early affection to the moon, which "wanes as soon as it is full." In this reading, the honeymoon is a little sad, or at least realistic: love is at its fullest right after the wedding and then, like the moon, starts to shrink.
This fits Heywood's line perfectly. "It was yet but honeymoon" is said by someone who knows the shine will fade.
Theory 2: the first month
The other reading takes "moon" to mean "month." In this version, the honeymoon is simply the first month of marriage. This is the definition Samuel Johnson gave in 1755, as we'll see next.
Which is right?
The honest answer is that both meanings fit the evidence, and the word may have worked because it carried both at once. The "month" reading explains the length of time. The "waning moon" reading explains the gentle irony. The important thing is that both are rooted in the actual words "honey" and "moon" and in how they were used. Neither one needs an extra story about drinks or ancient rituals to explain it.
| Theory | What "moon" means | Tone | Supported by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waning moon | The moon, full for a moment, then shrinking | Wry, realistic: the sweetness fades | American Heritage Dictionary etymology; Heywood's 1546 context |
| First month | A month of time | Neutral: the first month after the wedding | Johnson's 1755 definition; "moon" meaning "month" |
| Month of mead | A month of drinking honey wine | Romantic legend | No support in the dictionaries consulted for this article |
Samuel Johnson's 1755 definition
In 1755, Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary of the English Language, one of the most important English dictionaries ever made. His entry for "honey-moon," which you can explore through Johnson's Dictionary Online from the University of Central Florida, reads:
HONEY-MOON. [honey and moon.] The first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure.
A few things are worth noticing.
- The etymology is simple: "honey and moon." Johnson doesn't mention mead or any custom.
- It's a period of time: "the first month after marriage." There's no trip.
- It's still a little knowing: "nothing but tenderness and pleasure" hints that this won't always be so.
Johnson backs up his definition with a quotation from Joseph Addison's essay periodical The Guardian: "A man should keep his finery for the latter season of marriage, and not begin to dress 'till the honey-moon is over." Addison's playful advice is to save your best efforts for later in the marriage, when the novelty has worn off. It's the same wink we saw in Heywood, two centuries later.
The mead myth, and other honeymoon myths
Now for the story you've most likely heard. It goes something like this: in an ancient culture (the tellers usually say Babylon, or the Norse, or "medieval Europe"), the bride's family gave the newlyweds a month's worth of mead, a drink made by fermenting honey with water. The couple drank it for one full moon to bring luck or fertility, and that's why it's called the honey-moon.
It's a charming tale, but here's why it doesn't hold up.
What the evidence shows
- The word is English and first appears in the 1540s. Dictionary.com dates it to 1540 to 1550, and our earliest example is Heywood's 1546 proverb. There's no record of the word, or an equivalent, being passed down from Babylon or Viking-age Scandinavia.
- The earliest uses are about a mood, not a drink. Heywood's "it was yet but hony moone" and the line from Eastward Hoe both describe a sweet but temporary phase. Neither mentions mead or a gift.
- The dictionaries explain it without mead. The American Heritage Dictionary links it to the waning moon. Dictionary.com says simply "honey + moon." Johnson in 1755 gives "honey and moon" and defines it as the first month after marriage.
- The meaning of the parts already explains the word. "Honey" meaning sweetness and "moon" meaning a month or the waning moon fully account for "honeymoon." There's no gap that a mead story needs to fill.
Mead itself is very old, and honey has played a part in many wedding customs around the world. It's quite possible that some couples, somewhere, did drink mead after their weddings. But that's a separate question from where the English word came from, and on that question the evidence points firmly to the plain meaning of honey and moon.
Other myths you may hear
- "The honeymoon was when the groom hid his kidnapped bride." This story claims the honeymoon began as a period of hiding after a "bride capture." None of the dictionaries consulted here mention anything like it, and the earliest uses of the word describe a sweet, happy time, not hiding.
- "Honeymoon comes from an ancient language." It's made of two ordinary English words, and it was first recorded in English.
- "The honeymoon always meant a trip." In 1755, Johnson defined it as a month, not a journey. The trip meaning came later.
Why myths like the mead story spread
If the evidence is so clear, why is the mead story everywhere? A few reasons explain why invented word origins are so sticky.
- They're better stories. "Honey plus moon" is accurate but plain. A tale of Babylonian wedding gifts and a month of honey wine has characters, a setting and a ritual. Stories travel further than definitions.
- They sound ancient. Linking a word to Babylon or the Vikings makes it feel deep and mysterious. A word first written down in a sixteenth-century English proverb book sounds less exotic, even though that history is interesting in its own right.
- They mix in true details. Mead is real and old. Honey really does appear in many wedding traditions. When a story is built from true pieces, the false conclusion is harder to spot.
- They get copied. Once a story appears on a few wedding websites, others repeat it without checking. After a while, it's repeated so often that it feels like common knowledge.
None of this makes people foolish for believing the mead story. It's a natural thing for a good story to do. It just means it's worth checking a dictionary before passing it along, especially in a wedding speech in front of a crowd.
How to check a word-origin story yourself
You can test almost any "this word comes from..." claim with a few simple steps. Here's how they work with honeymoon as the example.
- Find the first recorded date. Most good dictionaries give one. For honeymoon, Dictionary.com says 1540 to 1550. Any story that places the word's origin thousands of years earlier, in another language, needs strong proof.
- Read the etymology section. Look at what the dictionary says the word is made from. Here, it's "honey + moon." If the dictionary doesn't mention the custom in the story, that's a red flag for the story.
- Look at the earliest examples. What were people talking about when they first used the word? Heywood was talking about a couple's fading happiness, not a gift of mead.
- Check a second dictionary. The American Heritage Dictionary and Johnson's 1755 dictionary both agree on honey and moon. When independent sources agree, you can be more confident.
- Watch the hedging words. Dictionaries say "perhaps" or "probably" when the evidence isn't certain. That honesty is a good sign. A story that sounds absolutely certain about a distant past, with no sources, is usually less reliable.
The same steps work for many romantic words. Our guide to what "babe" means uses a similar approach to trace that pet name back through its history.
From a sweet month to a vacation: how the meaning changed
One of the most interesting things about "honeymoon" is how its main meaning shifted. Compare Johnson's 1755 definition with the American Heritage Dictionary today.
| Source | Main meaning | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| Heywood, 1546 | The sweet early days of a marriage | A mood or phase |
| Johnson, 1755 | "The first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure" | A period of time |
| American Heritage Dictionary, today | "A holiday or trip taken by a newly married couple" | A trip |
| American Heritage Dictionary, today (second sense) | "An early harmonious period in a relationship" | Any new relationship's good start |
Somewhere between Johnson's time and ours, the honeymoon went from being when you were newly married to where you went right after the wedding. It makes sense: if the first weeks of marriage are a special time, it's natural to want to spend them somewhere special. As travel became easier, the wedding trip took over the word.
Today, the trip meaning is so strong that people talk about "planning the honeymoon," "going on a honeymoon" and even "honeymoon destinations." Meanwhile, the older meaning lives on in phrases like "the honeymoon is over."
Honeymoon beyond marriage: the honeymoon period
Because the word always carried the idea of a sweet but temporary phase, it was easy to stretch it to other situations. The American Heritage Dictionary's second sense is "an early harmonious period in a relationship," with the example "The honeymoon between the new President and the press was soon over."
You'll hear "honeymoon" used this way in many settings:
- Politics: a new leader's "honeymoon period," when critics hold back.
- Work: the first weeks at a new job, when everything feels exciting.
- Relationships: the "honeymoon phase" early in dating, when everything your partner does seems adorable.
- Moving: loving a new city or home before the small annoyances show up.
The American Heritage Dictionary also lists "honeymoon" as a verb: "to go on a honeymoon." So you can say a couple "honeymooned in Hawaii," and the people on the trip are "honeymooners."
Honeymoon words and phrases
Here's a quick guide to the family of words and phrases that grew from "honeymoon."
| Word or phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Honeymoon (noun) | A trip taken by a newly married couple | "They're leaving for their honeymoon on Sunday." |
| Honeymoon (verb) | To go on a honeymoon | "They honeymooned by the lake." |
| Honeymooners | A couple on their honeymoon | "The hotel was full of honeymooners." |
| Honeymoon period | An early, harmonious time in any new situation | "The new coach is still in her honeymoon period." |
| Honeymoon phase | The giddy early stage of a relationship | "They're in the honeymoon phase and can't stop smiling." |
| The honeymoon is over | The easy early stage has ended | "The honeymoon is over: we're arguing about the dishes now." |
Notice how the phrase "the honeymoon is over" keeps Heywood's 1546 meaning almost exactly. Four and a half centuries later, people still use the word to say the sweet beginning doesn't last forever, usually with a laugh.
All of these uses carry the same idea Heywood had in 1546: a happy, glowing start that won't last in quite the same way. It's a nice reminder that the wry wink in the word has survived for nearly five centuries.
New honeymoon words couples use today
The word is still growing. Couples and wedding planners keep inventing new terms built on "honeymoon," usually by blending it with another word. These blends follow the same pattern as the original: take a familiar word and give it a romantic twist.
- Minimoon: a short trip right after the wedding, often with a longer honeymoon planned for later. It's a blend of "mini" and "honeymoon."
- Delayed honeymoon: a honeymoon taken months, or even years, after the wedding, often because of work, school or family schedules.
- Staycation honeymoon: spending the first days of marriage at home or nearby, treating your own town like a getaway.
- Familymoon: a post-wedding trip that includes the couple's children.
- Babymoon: borrowed from honeymoon, for a relaxing trip taken by parents-to-be before a baby arrives.
None of these are in Johnson's dictionary, of course. But they show the same creativity that gave us "honeymoon" in the first place. People take a word that means something warm, and they bend it to fit their lives.
Keeping the old meaning alive
Whatever kind of trip you take, or even if you don't take one, you can still have a honeymoon in the original 1546 sense: the sweet early season of a marriage. Some couples like to mark it with small rituals in that first month, such as a weekly date night, a shared journal, or a new nickname for each other. Taking the word back to its roots can make it feel more personal than any destination.
Honey in the language of love
"Honeymoon" is just one of many sweet words that come from honey. English speakers have been comparing the people they love to honey for a long time, and the habit shows up in a whole family of pet names: honey, hon, honeybun, honey bear and more. The idea behind all of them is the same one inside "honeymoon": honey is the taste of something sweet and good.
It's worth noticing how the two words handle sweetness differently, though. Calling someone "honey" is pure affection. "Honeymoon," at least originally, came with a reminder that sweetness fades. Put together, they make a nice pair: one celebrates sweetness, and the other reminds us to keep tending it.
If you love these sweet names, our collection of pet names for couples includes many in the honey family, and a separate article on why we call people "honey" is on the way.
Honeymoon in other languages
Many European languages use a phrase that means "moon of honey." The French expression lune de miel appears in the Larousse dictionary's entry for lune, the French word for moon. Here are some common equivalents.
| Language | Word or phrase | Simple pronunciation | Literal meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| French | lune de miel | loon duh myel | moon of honey |
| Spanish | luna de miel | LOO-nah deh myel | moon of honey |
| Italian | luna di miele | LOO-nah dee MYEH-leh | moon of honey |
| Portuguese | lua de mel | LOO-ah djee mel | moon of honey |
| German | Flitterwochen | FLIT-er-vokh-en | "tinsel weeks" |
The "moon of honey" phrases in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese closely mirror the English word. German takes a different route: Flitterwochen uses Flitter, meaning tinsel or glittery trinkets, and Wochen, meaning weeks. It's a lovely image of a shiny, sparkly time, and it carries the same hint that the glitter won't last forever.
If you enjoy sweet words in other languages, our guides to French pet names, Italian pet names and German pet names are full of them.
A timeline of the word honeymoon
Here's the word's history at a glance, using dates from the sources cited in this article.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Old English period | Mōna (moon) and mōnath (month) are used, both linked to the same root | American Heritage Dictionary; Bosworth-Toller |
| 1540 to 1550 | "Honeymoon" first recorded, spelled "hony moone" | Dictionary.com |
| 1546 | John Heywood writes "it was yet but hony moone" in his proverbs about marriage | The Proverbs of John Heywood (1874 edition) |
| 1755 | Samuel Johnson defines "honey-moon" as the first month after marriage | Johnson's Dictionary Online |
| 1874 | Julian Sharman's edition of Heywood's proverbs makes the 1546 text widely available | Internet Archive (Cornell University Library copy) |
| Today | The main meaning is a trip after the wedding; "honeymoon period" is used for any good start | American Heritage Dictionary |
Try it yourself: using the word's history in a toast or card
The story of "honeymoon" is a fun detail to share at a wedding, in a card, or in a speech. The trick is to keep it light and end on a sweet note, since the original meaning is a bit cheeky. Here's a simple three-step formula.
- Share the old meaning. One sentence about honey for sweetness and the moon that wanes.
- Add the wink. One sentence acknowledging that people in the 1500s expected the sweetness to fade.
- Flip it. One sentence saying why this couple will prove them wrong.
Here are three examples. They're illustrative, written for made-up couples, so swap in your own names.
"Back in 1546, people said newlyweds were in their 'hony moone,' a sweet time that would fade like the moon. Ava and Marcus, I've watched you two for six years, and I've never seen your moon wane once."
"Samuel Johnson said the honeymoon was the first month of marriage, 'when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure.' Here's to proving that a month was a serious underestimate."
"Honey for sweetness, moon for a month. Wishing you a lifetime of both."
For a card, the last one works beautifully on its own. Add the couple's pet names for each other, and it becomes even more personal. If you're looking for old-fashioned sweet names to go with an old-fashioned story, our list of vintage terms of endearment has plenty, and there's a separate article coming on why the wedding ring is worn on the fourth finger.
Quick quiz: test your honeymoon knowledge
Want to see how much stuck? Try these five questions, then check the answers below. It's also a fun game for a bridal shower or rehearsal dinner.
- In what decade was the word "honeymoon" first recorded?
- Who wrote the earliest known example, and what was the book about?
- In Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary, was a honeymoon a trip or a period of time?
- What does the German word Flitterwochen literally mean?
- True or false: dictionaries say "honeymoon" comes from a custom of drinking mead for a month.
Answers
- The 1540s. Dictionary.com dates the first record to 1540 to 1550.
- John Heywood, in his 1546 proverbs, a rhyming dialogue about marriage.
- A period of time: "the first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure."
- "Tinsel weeks," from Flitter (tinsel or glittery trinkets) and Wochen (weeks).
- False. The dictionaries consulted here explain the word as honey plus moon, with no mention of mead.
If you got all five, you now know more about the word than most wedding websites. If you're writing a speech, any one of these facts makes a nice, short opener.
Wrap-up: honey for sweetness, moon for a month
So, where does the word honeymoon come from? It's a plain English compound of honey and moon, first recorded in the 1540s, with John Heywood's 1546 line "it was yet but hony moone" as our earliest example. Honey stood for sweetness. Moon stood for a month, or for the moon that wanes as soon as it's full, a gentle joke that the sweetest days don't last. Samuel Johnson defined it in 1755 as the first month after marriage, and only later did the word come to mean the trip. The month-of-mead story is a myth: no dictionary we checked supports it, and the earliest uses don't mention it.
If you're planning a honeymoon and want a sweet new name for your partner to go with it, try our free nickname generator. You choose who it's for, such as a husband, wife or partner, and a vibe like romantic, cute and sweet, or classic, and every suggestion includes a short note on why it works. You can save favorites to a shortlist, and the Couple Name Mixer blends your two names into one.
Modern Honeymoon Styles Compared
This table puts the newer honeymoon words from the article side by side, so you can see how each one differs from a classic honeymoon.
| Word | What it means | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Minimoon | A short trip right after the wedding | Often a longer honeymoon is planned for later; a blend of "mini" and "honeymoon" |
| Delayed honeymoon | A honeymoon taken months, or even years, after the wedding | Often because of work, school or family schedules |
| Staycation honeymoon | Spending the first days of marriage at home or nearby | Treats your own town like a getaway |
| Familymoon | A post-wedding trip that includes the couple's children | A family version of the classic trip |
| Babymoon | A relaxing trip for parents-to-be before a baby arrives | Borrowed from honeymoon |
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the word honeymoon come from?
Honeymoon is an English compound of honey and moon, first recorded between 1540 and 1550, according to Dictionary.com. It originally described the sweet, tender period right after a wedding. Honey stood for sweetness, and moon stood for a month or for the moon, which wanes as soon as it is full. The earliest known example is John Heywood's 1546 line it was yet but hony moone, from a book of proverbs about marriage.
Does honeymoon come from drinking mead for a month?
There's no dictionary evidence for that. The popular story says newlyweds were given a month's supply of mead, a honey drink, and that's where the word came from. But honeymoon is first recorded in English in the 1540s, and its earliest uses describe a sweet but temporary phase, with no mention of mead. The American Heritage Dictionary, Dictionary.com and Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary all explain it simply as honey plus moon.
What did honeymoon originally mean?
It originally meant the sweet early period of a marriage, not a trip. In 1546, John Heywood used it to describe a couple's early happiness, with the hint that trouble would follow. In 1755, Samuel Johnson defined honey-moon as the first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure. The meaning of a vacation taken by newlyweds came later and is now the main sense in modern dictionaries.
Why is it called a honeymoon and not a honeymonth?
In older English, moon could also mean a month, because people tracked time by the moon's cycle. The American Heritage Dictionary still lists a month, especially a lunar month, as one meaning of moon, and moon and month come from closely related Old English words, mona and monath. So honeymoon could be heard as honey month. The word moon also adds a second idea: the moon is full only briefly before it begins to wane.
Who first used the word honeymoon?
The earliest known example is from John Heywood, an English writer of proverbs and epigrams. In his 1546 collection of proverbs, written as a dialogue about marriage, a speaker says it was yet but hony moone, meaning the couple were still in their sweet early days. He may not have invented the word, since proverbs collect sayings people already used, but his book is the earliest written record we have.
What is a honeymoon period?
A honeymoon period is any early, happy stretch at the start of something new, before problems or routine set in. The American Heritage Dictionary defines this sense as an early harmonious period in a relationship, with an example about a new president and the press. People use it for new jobs, new leaders, new homes and new relationships. It keeps the original idea of honeymoon as a sweet but temporary phase.
What is honeymoon in French, Spanish and Italian?
French says lune de miel, Spanish says luna de miel, and Italian says luna di miele. All three mean moon of honey, closely matching the English word. Portuguese uses lua de mel, which means the same thing. German is different: it uses Flitterwochen, which combines Flitter, meaning tinsel or glittery trinkets, with Wochen, meaning weeks. It paints the honeymoon as a sparkly, shiny time.
Did Samuel Johnson define honeymoon?
Yes. In his 1755 Dictionary of the English Language, Samuel Johnson defined honey-moon as the first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure. He gave the etymology simply as honey and moon. He illustrated it with a quotation from Joseph Addison in The Guardian, advising husbands not to begin dressing up until the honey-moon is over. You can explore the entry through Johnson's Dictionary Online from the University of Central Florida.
Is the honeymoon meant to be sad or happy?
A bit of both. The word celebrates the sweet early days of a marriage, but its earliest uses carried a gentle warning. John Heywood's 1546 line it was yet but hony moone is followed by trouble, and the American Heritage Dictionary suggests the word compares new love to the moon, which wanes as soon as it is full. Today most people use honeymoon happily, while phrases like the honeymoon is over keep the old wink alive.
When did honeymoon start meaning a trip?
The exact date is hard to pin down, but the shift happened after Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary, which defined honeymoon as a month, not a journey. As travel became easier, newly married couples increasingly spent those first sweet weeks away from home, and the word followed the custom. Today, the American Heritage Dictionary lists a holiday or trip taken by a newly married couple as its first meaning, with the older sense of a happy early period second.
Sources
We checked every source below while writing this guide. Last reviewed October 30, 2026, by Joan Ramos.
- honeymoon (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)
- honeymoon (Dictionary.com)
- The Proverbs of John Heywood, Being the "Proverbes" of That Author Printed 1546, ed. Julian Sharman (1874) (Internet Archive (Cornell University Library))
- honey-moon, n.s. (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson (Johnson's Dictionary Online, University of Central Florida)
- honey (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)
- moon (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)
- month (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)
- mónaþ (An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Bosworth and Toller) (Faculty of Arts, Charles University)
- lune (Dictionnaire de français) (Larousse)
