Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “honeycomb” come from?

Honeycomb comes from Old English huniġcamb, a compound of hunig (honey) and camb (comb).

honeycomb (English): A structure of hexagonal cells made by bees...

Definitions

  1. A structure of hexagonal cells made by bees...

Ancestry of “honeycomb”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishhonycomb—
2Old Englishhuniġcamb—
3Old Englishhuniġ—
4Proto-West Germanichunaghoney
5Proto-Germanic*hunagą—
6Proto-GermanichunangąAlternative form of *hunagą
7Proto-Indo-Europeankn̥h₂onk-o-s—
8Proto-Indo-Europeankn̥h₂ónkshoney

Words derived from “honeycomb”

  • honeycomblike
  • hyperhoneycomb
  • nanohoneycomb
  • ハニカム
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kn̥h₂ónks →