'honey-colored' is a compound of 'honey' + 'colored'. 'honey' originates from Old English 'hunig' (meaning the sweet substance produced by bees), and 'colored' comes from Old French 'colouré' (from Latin 'color').

'honey' changed from Old English 'hunig' to Middle English 'hony' and then to modern English 'honey'; 'colored' developed via Old French 'colourer' and Middle English 'colour/colored' to the modern adjective-forming use. The compound form ('honey-colored') arose by combining the noun for a familiar color source with 'colored' to describe hue.

Initially 'honey' referred primarily to the substance produced by bees; over time its use as a color reference led to compounds like 'honey-colored', which specifically mean 'having the color of honey'.