hon has the recorded history: A clipped, affectionate shortening of honey, from Old English hunig ('honey'), from Proto-Germanic *hunangą. The form is also shaped by later English word-formation, since shortening, alteration, or polite substitution can be as important as direct inheritance. In present English, the noun sense is "an informal term of affection, short for honey", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as honey. Its semantic neighborhood includes honey, dear, darling, and sweetheart, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Old English hunig and Proto-Germanic *hunangą.