Etymograph

English

honeysuckle

Honeysuckle comes from Middle English honysokel ‘Honeysuckle or a similar plant’, from Old English sūcan ‘to suck’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *suk-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*suk-1uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sūkaną1‘to suck’uncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sūkan1‘to suck’uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sūcan2‘to suck’uncertain
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150huniġ2‘honey’uncertain
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150huniġsūce3uncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500honysoke3uncertain
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500honysokel3‘Honeysuckle or a similar plant’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1834honeysuckle3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English sucan
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English hunigsuce
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English honeysuckle
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “There was nothing of that luxuriance of blossom which…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*suk-Wiktionary, Old English sucanuncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sūkanąWiktionary, Old English sucan‘to suck’uncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sūkanWiktionary, Old English sucan‘to suck’uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sūcanWiktionary, Old English hunigsuce‘to suck’uncertain
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150huniġWiktionary, Old English hunigsuce‘honey’uncertain
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150huniġsūceWiktionary, English honeysuckleuncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500honysokeWiktionary, English honeysuckleuncertain
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500honysokelWiktionary, English honeysuckle‘Honeysuckle or a similar plant’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1834honeysuckleWiktionary, English honeysuckle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “There was nothing of that luxuriance of blossom which…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *sūkaną ‘to suck’

soak, 1 more

through Proto-West Germanic *sūkan ‘to suck’

sucker, 1 more

through Old English sūcan ‘to suck’

suck, soaking, sook, 2 more

through Old English huniġ ‘honey’

honeycomb, 3 more

Today it means

noun Any of the many species of arching shrubs and climbing vines of the genus Lonicera in the Caprifoliaceae family, many with sweet-smelling, bell-shaped flowers.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “honeysuckle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English sucan, Old English hunigsuce. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *suk- / honeysuckle

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