LUNAR

lunar

(adjective) of or relating to or associated with the moon; “lunar surface”; “lunar module”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

lunar (not comparable)

Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon (that is, Luna, the Earth's moon); Lunar.

Synonyms: lunarlike, lunary (obsolete), moonish, moonlike, moonly, selenic

Shaped like a crescent moon; lunate.

(chiefly, historical) (Believed to be) influenced by the Moon, as in character, growth, or properties.

(alchemy, chemistry, historical) Of or pertaining to silver (which was symbolically associated with the Moon by alchemists).

(astronomy) Of or pertaining to travel through space between the Earth and the Moon, or exploration and scientific investigation of the Moon.

Noun

lunar (plural lunars)

(anatomy) The middle bone of the proximal series of the carpus in the wrist, which is shaped like a half-moon.

Synonyms: intermedium, lunar bone, semilunar

(nautical, navigation) An observation of a lunar distance (“the angle between the Moon and another celestial body”), especially for establishing the longitude of a ship at sea.

Anagrams

• ulnar, urnal

Adjective

Lunar

Pertaining to Luna, the moon of Terra.

Anagrams

• ulnar, urnal

Source: Wiktionary


Lu"nar, a. Etym: [L. lunaris, fr. luna the moon. See Luna, and cf. Lunary.]

1. Of or pertaining to the moon; as, lunar observations.

2. Resembling the moon; orbed. Dryden.

3. Measured by the revolutions of the moon; as, a lunar month.

4. Influenced by the moon, as in growth, character, or properties; as, lunar herbs. Bacon. Lunar caustic (Med. Chem.), silver nitrate prepared to be used as a cautery; -- so named because silver was called luna by the ancient alchemists.

– Lunar cycle. Same as Metonic cycle. See under Cycle.

– Lunar distance, the angular distance of the moon from the sun, a star, or a planet, employed for determining longitude by the lunar method.

– Lunar method, the method of finding a ship's longitude by comparing the local time of taking (by means of a sextant or circle) a given lunar distance, with the Greenwich time corresponding to the same distance as ascertained from a nautical almanac, the difference of these times being the longitude.

– Lunar month. See Month.

– Lunar observation, an observation of a lunar distance by means of a sextant or circle, with the altitudes of the bodies, and the time, for the purpose of computing the longitude.

– Lunar tables. (a) (Astron.) Tables of the moon's motions, arranged for computing the moon's true place at any time past or future. (b) (Navigation) Tables for correcting an observed lunar distance on account of refraction and parallax.

– Lunar year, the period of twelve lunar months, or 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, and 34.38 seconds.

Lu"nar, n.

1. (Astron.)

Definition: A lunar distance.

2. (Anat.)

Definition: The middle bone of the proximal series of the carpus; -- called also semilunar, and intermedium.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

19 June 2025

ROOTS

(noun) the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage; “his roots in Texas go back a long way”; “he went back to Sweden to search for his roots”; “his music has African roots”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

coffee icon