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

The crescent moon will be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars can make the delicate curve of the lunar crescent and nearby Saturn much easier to spot at twilight. —Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 11 May 2026

Meanwhile, the lunar surface looms below, including the 40-mile-wide (64-kilometer-wide) Ohm Crater near the moon's horizon. —Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, 11 May 2026

The development of lunar space suits—a job NASA gave to the private firm Axiom Space—is also behind schedule, according to the agency’s inspector general. —Dan Vergano, Scientific American, 11 May 2026

According to the researchers, if their reconstruction is correct, astronauts near the lunar south pole could land within deposits that may contain material excavated from deep inside the moon during the colossal collision. —Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 9 May 2026

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