lunar

adjective

lu·​nar ˈlü-nər 

 also  -ˌnär

1

: crescent, lunate

who grasps the struggling heifer's lunar horns

—Alexander Pope

2

a

: of, relating to, or resembling the moon

lunar craters

a lunar landscape

b

: designed for use on the moon

lunar vehicles

3

: measured by the moon's revolution

lunar month

Examples of lunar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These tables derive their lunar calculations (known as computus paschalis) from such elements as epacts and the Golden Number. —Joe Rao, Space.com, 12 Apr. 2025

But most recently Michelin has been competing in another race – to create a tire for the Artemis lunar rover. —James Morris, Forbes.com, 12 Apr. 2025

Intuitive Machines has selected a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch a lunar delivery mission scheduled for 2027, the Houston Chronicle reports. —ArsTechnica, 11 Apr. 2025

In March 2025, Zipline announced that its drones have logged more than 100 million autonomous miles of flight to-date, a number equivalent to flying more than 4,000 loops around the planet, or 200 lunar round trips, the company said in a video to mark the milestone. —Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English lunare, borrowed from Latin lūnāris "of the moon, crescent-shaped," from lūna "moon" + -āris -ar; lūna going back to Indo-European *lou̯k-s-neh₂, derivative of the verb stem *leu̯k- "become bright," whence also Old Church Slavic luna "moon," Russian luná, Old Prussian lauxnos "stars," Armenian lusin "moon"; from a stem *lou̯k-s-no- Old Irish lúan in día lúain "Monday," Avestan raoxšna- "light," (with presumed zero-grade) Greek lýkhnos "lamp" — more at light entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing lunar

• lunar caustic
• lunar eclipse
• lunar module
• lunar month

Rhymes for lunar

• schooner
• sooner
• spooner
• tuner
• lacunar
• semilunar

Kids Definition

lunar

adjective

lu·​nar ˈlü-nər 

1

: of, relating to, or resembling the moon

lunar craters

a lunar landscape

2

: measured by the moon's revolution

lunar month

Medical Definition

lunar

adjective

lu·​nar

ˈlü-nər also -ˌnär

: lunate