Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “moon” come from?

Moon comes from Middle English mone, from Middle English mine, from Proto-Germanic mēnô, from Proto-Indo-European mḗh₁n̥s, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root men- meaning to measure.

moon (English): Any natural satellite of a planet; A month,...

Definitions

  1. Any natural satellite of a planet; A month,...

Ancestry of “moon”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishmoneA lamentation; A moan, complaint; The celestial...
2Old Englishmānbad, criminal, false; shameful act; crime;...
3Sanskritमहादेव—
4Sanskritमहाcombining form of महत्; buffalo; great, large,...
5Sanskritमहायान—
6Sanskritयानcarriage, vehicle, mode of transport; moving,...
7Proto-Indo-AryanyáHnam—
8Proto-Indo-IranianyáHnam—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanyéh₂-nom—
10Proto-Indo-Europeanyeh₂-to go; to go in, enter; to ride, to travel

Words derived from “moon”

  • honeymoon
  • moonlit
  • moonshine
  • moonless
  • moonbeam
  • moonrise
  • moony
  • moonstone
  • moonstruck
  • mooned
  • moonscape
  • moonshiner
  • moonlike
  • moonset
  • mooncalf
  • moonshining
  • moonshiny
  • moonflower
  • moonglow
  • honeymooner
  • moonpool
  • moonwort
  • moonlet
  • moonward
Every word from Proto-Indo-European yeh₂- →