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 4 Zodiac Signs Will Be in Their Villain Era This October The Moon Is in Tender Cancer The moon in Cancer is a perceptive and doting lunar placement on a good day. —Lisa Stardust, People.com, 22 Oct. 2024

But the researchers couldn’t say whether those additional emergencies were caused by lunar zoomies, or were merely a statistical artifact. —Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2024

The heating system can keep an astronaut comfortable in the freezing lunar shadows for up to two hours and life support can be used for Moonwalks and spacewalks for up to eight hours. —David Szondy, New Atlas, 20 Oct. 2024

Surrounding that is the environmental protective garment (EPG), the heavy, visible, outer covering of the suit that protects the astronauts from cuts and punctures on a lunar terrain that bristles with jagged rocks and scarps. —Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 18 Oct. 2024

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

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