Quick Definition
μέλι, ιτος, τό n.n. honey
Strong's Definition
apparently a primary word; honey
KJV Usage: honey
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, n. | -ιτος | μελίσσιος
5.20 · Foods and Condiments · Food
honey a sweet substance produced by bees from flower nectar Though honey may be regarded by some as a vegetable product, since flowers constitute its source, it is more specifically associated with bees and in some languages is actually called bee urine.
μέλι ἄγριον, literally ‘wild honey,’ refers to bee honey gathered in the fields and not the result of keeping bees in hives.
In the ancient world bee keeping was a highly developed industry, since honey was a principal source of sweetening. The equivalent of wild honey in a number of languages is ‘forest honey’ or ‘tree honey.’
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
μέλι, -ros, τό, Sept. for wa3, [fr. Hom. down], honey: Rev. x. 9 sq.; ἄγριον (q. v-), Mt. iii. 4; Mk. i. 6." μελίσσιος., -a, -ov, (fr. μέλισσα a bee, as θαλάσσιος fr. θάλασσα; μέλισσα is fr. μέλι), of bees, made by bees: Lk. xxiv. 42 [RG Trin br.]. (Not found elsewh. [cf. W. 24]; μελισσαῖιος, -a, -ov is found in Nic. th. 611, in Eust. μελίσσειος.)
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
μέλι meli 4x
honey, Mt. 3:4; Mk. 1:6; Rev. 10:9, 10*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
μέλι, -τος, τό,
[in LXX freq. (Ge 43:11, al.) for דְּבַשׁ; for נֹפֶת, Pr 5:3;]
honey: Re 10:9, 10; ἄγριον (q.v.), Mt 3:4, Mk 1:9.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
μέλι has a place in all phases of Greek from Homer to MGr: cf. from the Kowy—P Oxy 11. 234%: 10 (a medical prescripῥόδινον, “444 honey and rose-extract,’”” 76. VI. 936° (iii/A.D.) ἡμίχουν μέλιτος, “half a chous of honey.” This last papyrus shows also 10 μελικηρίδα, ‘honey comb,” and ™ μελίτινα στεφάνια y, which the editors render ‘‘ 3 honey-sweet garlands”: cf. the otherwise unknown adj. μελίσσιος as interpolated in the TR of Lk 2442. For acc. péAw see P Iand 18? (vi/vii A.D.) | and for μελίτιν see Aazbel 7199 γλυκὺν ὡς μελίτιν. μ' y μ ) βοῦν μελ[άνην |
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
μέλι (meli) — honey. μέλῐ, τό, genitive ῐτος, etc.; dative μέλι [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—honey, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; said to be made from the palm (φοῖνιξ), [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. in comparisons, of anything sweet, especially of eloquence, μέλιτος γλυκίων ῥέεν αὐδή [Refs 8th c.BC+], of those who refuse to take 'the rough with the smooth', [Refs 7th c.BC+]
II. sweet gum collected from certain trees, manna, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; μ. ἄγριον, μαινόμενον, [Refs 1st c.BC+]. (Cf. Gothic milip, Latin mel.)