moon

/muːn//mun/

moon is the alternative letter-case form of Moon.

Noun

moon (plural moons)

(broadly, informal) Any natural satellite of a planet.
- The stargazer observed the moons of Jupiter for over a year.
- That's no moon, you idiot... it's a space station!
Synonyms:

satellite
(literary) A month, particularly a lunar month.
- They stayed with their aunt and uncle for many moons.
- For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith,
  Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used
  Their dearest action in the tented field…1603, William Shakespeare, Othello
Synonyms:

calendar month, lunar month, month
A representation of the moon, usually as a crescent or as a circle with a face; a crescent-shaped shape, symbol, or object.
- The wizard costume was decorated with stars and moons.
A crescent-like outwork in a fortification.
- The moons surrounding the city walls were built in the sixteenth century.
The eighteenth trump/major arcana card of the tarot.
The thirty-second Lenormand card.
In hearts, the action of taking all the point cards in one hand.

Verb

moon (third-person singular simple present moons, present participle mooning, simple past and past participle mooned)

(colloquial, transitive) To display one's buttocks to, typically as a jest, insult, or protest.
- The hooligans mooned the riot police.
- It was ill-advised of Sam to moon the photographer during the shoot.
(colloquial, intransitive) To gaze at lovingly or in adoration.
- Bradly stood bewitched, mooning at the moon. Betimes he bent in a grotesque posture and looked at it between his legs, which was to rid his mind of preconceived colour values by seeing them upside down.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 164
- To completely back down now would be as unnatural as mooning in front of your girlfriend's parents.2009, Tim Thornton, The Alternative Hero, Random House, →ISBN, page 9
(colloquial, intransitive, usually) To fuss over something adoringly; to be infatuated with someone.
- Sarah mooned over Sam's photograph for months.
- You've been mooning after her forever; why not just ask her out?
To spend time idly, absent-mindedly.
- We were only three on board. The poor old skipper mooned in the cabin.1898, Joseph Conrad, Youth
- I mooned around. I was mighty sick of the room by then.2001, Stephen King, The Death of Jack Hamilton
(transitive) To expose to the rays of the Moon.
(transitive) To adorn with moons or crescents.
To rise in price rapidly or suddenly. (from to the moon)
- It is impractical if a currency moons and plummets often.
- I've followed several of the most popular crypto pundits on Twitter and discovered they constantly brag about their one big Hail Mary pick that mooned but neglect to mention – or delete – their numerous fumbles.2019, Mark Grabowski, Cryptocurrencies: A Primer on Digital Money, Routledge, →ISBN
To shoot the moon.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Moon

Moon or the Moon (plural Moons)

The Earth's moon; the sole natural satellite of the Earth, represented in astronomy and astrology by ☾.
- I kind of have two Moons up there. I look at the Moon just like everybody else who's never been there. But every once in a while I do think of the second Moon, the one that I recall from up close and, yeah, it is kind of hard to believe that I was actually up there.2011 September 18, Michael Collins, quotee, “Out of this world: What it's really like to to^([sic]) walk on the moon”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived...
Synonyms:

Cynthia, Luna, Selene
A personification of the moon.
- Women's rhythm of life, her monthly renewal with her patroness the Moon, is the most important thing in her existence.1961, Xavier Herbert, Soldiers' Women, Netley, SA: Fontana Books, published 1978, page 145
- Moon, the companion of Night, waxes and wanes, and we call this time a month.1994, Tony Linsell, Anglo-Saxon Mythology, Migration & Magic, Anglo-Saxon Books, →ISBN, page 15
The 54th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Moon

Moon

A surname.
An unincorporated community in Morgan County, Kentucky.
A township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
A ghost town in Pennington County, South Dakota.
An unincorporated community in Mathews County, Virginia.
An unincorporated community in the town of Mosinee, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Synonyms of moon

Antonyms

moonlet

Forms of moon

Proper noun
plural	Moons
alternative form	moon
alternative form (obsolete)	moone
Noun
plural	moons
Verb
third-person singular present	moons
present participle	mooning
past participle	mooned
past	mooned

Origin of moon

From Middle English mone, from Old English mōna (“moon”), from Proto-West Germanic *mānō, from Proto-Germanic *mēnô (“moon”), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon; month”), probably from *meh₁- (“to measure”). Cognates Cognate with Scots muin, mune (“moon”), Yola mona, moone (“moon”), North Frisian moune, muun (“moon”), Saterland Frisian Moune (“moon”), West Frisian moanne (“moon”), Alemannic German Maan, manä, manòd, mànund, meini, moanu, Mond (“moon”), Bavarian mone (“moon”), Central Franconian Mond (“moon”), Cimbrian ma, maano, må (“moon”), Dutch maan, maen (“moon”), German Mond (“moon”), Limburgish maon, maond, moan, mond, Moën, Mǫnt, Mǫe̩nt, Mǫǫnt (“moon”), Luxembourgish Mound (“moon”), Mòcheno mu' (“moon”), Vilamovian mönd, mönt (“moon”), West Flemish moane (“moon”), Yiddish מאָנט (mont, “moon”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish måne (“moon”), Faroese and Icelandic máni (“moon”), Norn måni (“moon”), Crimean Gothic mine (“moon”), Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌽𐌰 (mēna, “the Moon”); also Cornish and Welsh mis (“month”), Irish mí (“month”), Manx mee (“month”), Scottish Gaelic mìos (“moon; month”), Latin mēnsis (“month”), Umbrian 𐌌𐌄𐌍𐌆𐌍𐌄 (menzne, “Moon”), Greek μήνας...

[Alt: Bright face of the Moon] From Middle English Mone, mone, from Old English mōna, from Proto-West Germanic *mānō, from Proto-Germanic *mēnô, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), from *meh₁- (“to measure”). Doublet of Máni.

* A variant of Mohan, from Irish. * A habitational name of Norman origin from Moyon in La Manche. Compare Mounce. * An Americanized form of German Mohn or a similar surname. * A variant of Mun, from Korean. * A variant Romanization of Chinese 文 (Wén), 萬 /万 (Wàn), and 滿 /满 (Mǎn). * Possibly from Cantonese 滿 /满 (mun⁵, “full; complete”).

Phrases with moon

142 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with moon

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about moon

What does moon mean?: Moon means any natural satellite of a planet.
What is moon the alternative letter-case form of?: Moon is the alternative letter-case form of Moon.
What part of speech is moon?: Moon can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce moon?: Moon is pronounced /muːn/ (UK).
What is the plural of moon?: The plural of moon is moons.

Words near moon in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: moon (page history and authors); Moon (page history and authors). 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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-moon.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-moon.wav.

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