the period immediately following marriage, esp when taken as a holiday by the married couple
a period of unusual harmony following the establishment of a new relationship, e.g. that of a new government with the public
honey + moon1. Orig with reference to its phases, the honey moon being the full moon of intense married bliss; later moon was understood in its other sense ‘month’, Dr Johnson's definition being: ‘the first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure’