Word.ws English Dictionary

lunar

Syllables: lun·arUK/ˈluːnə/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈlʉwnə/

lunar adjective: of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon (that is, Luna, the Earth's moon).

Adjective (1)

lunar (not comparable)

  1. Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon (that is, Luna, the Earth's moon).
    • lunar observations a lunar eclipse
    • By two lunar obſervations the long[itude] was 9° 57′ 30″ E. agreeing within 37′ by the watch, though the day before the long. by moon and watch differed 2° 35′.1774 September, “A Voyage towards the North Pole, Undertaken by His Majesty’s Command in 1773. By Constantine John Phipps. 4to. Nourse.”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The...
  2. Shaped like a crescent moon; lunate.
    • Her tears purſu'd her words, and while ſhe ſpoke / The Goddeſs nodded, and her altar ſhook: / The temple doors, as with a blaſt of wind, / Were heard to clap; the lunar horns that bind / The brows of Iſis caſt a blaze around; / The trembling timbrel made a murm'ring ſound.1693, John Dryden, “The Fable of Iphis and Ianthe. From the Ninth Book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume III, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson...
    • The images therefore which Laban worſhipped were probably lunar amulets, or types of the ark in the form of a creſcent.1774 August, “38. [Jacob] Bryant’s Ancient Mythology, [Vol. II, [...].]”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XLIV, London...
  3. Extremely high.
    • Julian wolfed down the rest of his dinner and when he accompanied Michelle back to her apartment his spirits were positively lunar.1901, Chris Shepherdson, Another New York Murder
    • Although Little Chandler hungers to “express the melancholy of his soul in verse,” to ascend out of the depths of his solitary confinement to the lunar heights of the poet, he can do no more than expand into a garrulous bully or shrink into an infant, always remaining his own inadequate self, like...1956, Research Studies of the State College of Washington, page 270
  4. (historical) (Believed to be) influenced by the Moon, as in character, growth, or properties.
    • Some of the Ancients, and likewiſe diuers of the Moderne VVriters, that haue laboured in Naturall Magick, have noted a Sympathy, between the Sunne, Moone, and ſome Principall Starres; And certaine Herbes, and Plants. And they haue denominated ſome Herbes Solar, and ſome Lunar; [...]1631, Francis [Bacon], “V. Century. [Experiments in Consort Touching the Sympathy and Antipathy of Plants.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London...
  5. (obsolete) Of or pertaining to silver (which was symbolically associated with the Moon by alchemists).
    • On the Poison of Serpents. By W. Boag, Esq. [...] Supposing the fatal effect [of a snakebite] to be produced by the sudden subtraction of oxygen from the blood, this gentleman recommends, by way of antidote, the employment of those substances which contain oxygen in its greatest abundance, and part...1805 April, “Art. V. Asiatic Researches, Vols. VI. and VII. …”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume XLVI, London: Printed by Strahan and Preston, […]; and sold by T[homas]...
    • The association of the heavenly bodies with known metals and also with human organs and destinies goes back to ancient Chaldea, the land of astrologers. In Chaucer’s words: ‘The seven bodies eek, lo hear anon. Sol gold is, and Luna silver we declare; Mars yron, Mercurie is quyksilver; Saturnian...2013, John Read, From Alchemy to Chemistry
  6. Of or pertaining to travel through space between the Earth and the Moon, or exploration and scientific investigation of the Moon.
    • Several initial experimental firings of the various stages of Saturn V into earth orbit will precede the planned lunar flight. The astronauts will practice rendezvous techniques in the earth's orbit. [...] Before they reach the moon the astronauts will have another difficult maneuver to...1963, L. L. Waite, “How We will Get to the Moon: Excerpt from a Speech by L. L. Waite, Senior Vice President, North American Aviation, Inc., before the Electronic Analysts of Boston”, in Skyline...

Noun

lunar (plural lunars)

  1. The middle bone of the proximal series of the carpus in the wrist, which is shaped like a half-moon.
    • The carpal bones are usually described as being capable of being luxated from the lower end of the radius forwards or backwards, inwards or outwards. The case backwards, which has been stated to be the most frequent, is facilitated by the direction of the convex articular surfaces of the scaphoid...[1838, Samuel Cooper, “DISLOCATION”, in A Dictionary of Practical Surgery: Comprehending All the Most Interesting Improvements, from the Earliest Times down to the Present Period; […], 7th edition...
    • There are two larger bones of the wrist called the scaphoid and lunar; these form a large ball, and this is received into the lower end of the radius.1888, John C[harles] L[ewis] Sparkes, “The Bones”, in A Manual of Artistic Anatomy for the Use of Students in Art. Being a Description of the Bones and Muscles that Influence the External Form of...
    Synonyms:
    intermedium, lunar bone, semilunar
  2. (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.
    • [Y]oung beginners cannot be too often cautioned that a single lunar is of little or no value until the observer knows the usual difference between his lunars taken on opposite sides of the moon; and these should be taken with the same instrument, using the same screens and telescope, for he must...1859 October, Henry Toynbee, “A Few More Words on Lunars”, in The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle: A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs, volume XXVIII, number 10...
    • With cheap quartz watches (several, for reliability) we can do all the modern celestial navigation we could want. But learning and practicing lunars gives us deeper insight into celestial navigation; an appreciation for their historical importance and difficulty; and perhaps most significant of...2007, John Karl, “Lunar Distance Sights”, in Celestial Navigation in the GPS Age, Arcata, Calif.: Paradise Cay Publications; Wichita, Kan.: Celestaire, →ISBN, pages 96–97

Adjective (2) capitalized: Lunar

Lunar

  1. Alternative letter-case form of lunar (“pertaining to Luna, the moon of Terra”).

lunar meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

lunar in Hindi

of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon
चंद्र candra

lunar in Urdu

قمری

lunar in Bengali

of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon
চান্দ্র candro, মাহতাবি mahtabi

lunar in Telugu

of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon
చంద్ర candra, రాజ rāja, సౌమ్యము saumyamu
More languagesFewer languages
lunar in Sanskrit
चान्द्र cāndra
lunar in Arabic
قَمَرِيّ qamariyy
lunar in Malay
bulan, cendera, kebulanan, qamari

Examples of lunar in a sentence

  • Lunar eclipſes are not quite ſo complicated in theory, nor near ſo tedious and difficult in calculation, as ſolar ones.1782, Blith Hancock, “Section I. Of the Doctrine of Eclipses.”, in The Doctrine of Eclipses, both Solar and Lunar; Containing Short and...
  • You know nothing about fixing the lunar rays into a ſolid ſubſtance, but you muſt not therefore ſay that this is impoſſible.1783, “the Man of the People” [pseudonym; William Thomson], “I Leave the Service of the Apothecary, and Enter into that of the Lunar...
  • Ahead the flanks of the Pennines gleamed faintly in the moonlight, looking as though they themselves were part of some dry and deserted lunar landscape.1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 48:
  • Luna missions from known locations on the lunar surface. [...] Each Apollo landing increased in exploration complexity and returned even greater amounts of lunar samples.1991, David Vaniman, John Dietrich, G. Jeffrey Taylor, Grant Heiken, “Exploration, Samples, and Recent Concepts of the Moon”, in Grant...

All 40 example sentences with lunar

Synonyms of lunar

1 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of lunar

Forms of lunar

plurallunars

Origin of lunar

From Middle English lunar (“shaped like the crescent moon”), from Latin lūnāris (“of or pertaining to the moon, lunar”) (possibly through Middle French lunaire (modern French lunaire (“lunar”)), from lūna (“the Moon; crescent shape”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”)) + -is (suffix forming adjectives).

Equivalent to Luna + -ar.

Words formed from lunar

Phrases with lunar

6 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with lunar

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about lunar

What does lunar mean?
Lunar means of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon (that is, Luna, the Earth's moon).
What is lunar in Hindi?
Lunar in Hindi is चंद्र (candra). See Lunar meaning in Hindi.
How do you use lunar in a sentence?
Lunar eclipſes are not quite ſo complicated in theory, nor near ſo tedious and difficult in calculation, as ſolar ones.
What part of speech is lunar?
Lunar can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce lunar?
Lunar is pronounced /ˈluːnə/ (UK).

Words near lunar in the dictionary

  1. Lunan Water
  2. Lunana
  3. lunanaut
  4. lunanauts
  5. Lunans
  6. lunar
  7. lunar calendar
  8. lunar calendars
  9. lunar cataclysm
  10. lunar caustic
  11. lunar colonies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lunar (page history and authors); Lunar (page history and authors); lunar (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-lunar.ogg, en-au-luna.ogg.

Cite this entry: “lunar.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lunar. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.