Honeymoon

According to some sources, the honeymoon is a relic of marriage by capture, based on the practice of the husband going into hiding with his wife to avoid reprisals from her relatives, with the intention that the woman would be pregnant by the end of the month.

[5] According to a different version, of the Oxford English Dictionary: The first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure (Samuel Johnson); originally having no reference to the period of a month, but comparing the mutual affection of newly married persons to the changing moon which is no sooner full than it begins to wane; now, usually, the holiday spent together by a newly married couple, before settling down at home.Today, honeymoon has a positive meaning, but originally it may have referred to the inevitable waning of love, like a phase of the moon.

In 1552, Richard Huloet wrote: Hony mone, a term proverbially applied to such as be newly married, which will not fall out at the first, but th'one loveth the other at the beginning exceedingly, the likelihood of their exceadinge love appearing to aswage, ye which time the vulgar people call the hony mone.In many modern languages, the word for a honeymoon is a calque (e.g., French: lune de miel) or near-calque.

[9][10] The first recorded use of the word honeymoon to refer to the vacation after the wedding appeared in 1791, in a translation of German folk stories.

For other cultures, the purpose of the honeymoon mainly involves spending time to relax, creating a shared memorable experience for the couple, and adjusting to married life.

[13] Niagara Falls was a popular honeymoon destination for Americans in the 1980s, but it has since become less favored due to the decreasing costs of air travel.