Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “lunar” come from?

Lunar comes from Middle English lunar, from Latin lunaris, an adjective formed with the suffix -aris from Latin luna meaning moon, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European lewk- meaning to shine.

lunar (English): Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon ;...

Definitions

  1. Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon ;...

Ancestry of “lunar”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishlunarshaped like the crescent moon
2LatinlunarisOf or pertaining to the moon, lunar
3Normanleunemoon; jellyfish
4Old Frenchlunethe Moon
5Latinlūna—
6Old Latinlosna—
7Proto-Italiclouksnā—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanlówksneh₂moon
9Proto-Indo-Europeanlewḱ-lynx
10Proto-Indo-Europeanlewk-bright; to shine; to see

Words derived from “lunar”

  • semilunar
  • sublunar
  • circumlunar
  • interlunar
  • translunar
  • supralunar
  • cislunar
  • lunarlike
  • superlunar
  • lunarscape
  • scapholunar
  • protolunar
  • nonlunar
  • lunarnaut
Every word from Proto-Indo-European lewk- →