The word "蜜月" (honeymoon) is formed through a vivid conceptual metaphor. It directly translates the English term "honeymoon", which itself originates from the ancient Germanic custom where a newly married couple would drink mead (a honey-based wine) for one moon cycle (one month) after their wedding to foster sweetness, fertility, and good fortune. The Chinese term thus poetically combines "蜜" (mì, honey), symbolizing the sweet and tender period immediately following marriage, with "月" (yuè, moon/month), representing the approximate duration of this initial, intimate phase of married life.