sublunary

English

Etymology

From sub- +‎ lunary.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /sʌbˈluːnəɹi/

Adjective

sublunary (comparative more sublunary, superlative most sublunary)

1. Situated between the earth and the moon; sublunar or cislunar.
2. Of this world (as opposed to heaven etc.); earthly, terrestrial.
   • Dryden

     All things sublunary are subject to change.

   • South

     All sublunary comforts imitate the changeableness, as well as feel the influence, of the planet they are under.

   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:

     and the conversation which employed the hours between Friday and me was such as made the three years which we lived there together perfectly and completely happy, if any such thing as complete happiness can be formed in a sublunary state.

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19:

     We must infer that God does not know of the existence of our sublunary world.

Derived terms

• sublunary sphere

Noun

sublunary (plural sublunaries)

1. (obsolete) Any worldly thing.