luna

See also: Luna, lunã, lună, łuna, and łúna

English

WOTD – 28 December 2012

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin lūna (“moon; month; crescent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːnə/
• Homophones: lunar, looner (in non-rhotic accents)

Noun

luna (plural lunas)

1. (entomology) A luna moth: a member of species Actias luna.
   • 1944, Elizabeth Enright, Then There Were Five,^[1] Farrar & Rinehart, page 80:

     “Gee,” whispered Oliver. He sat there staring. “A luna! I never thought I’d see a real luna!”

   • 1969, Sterling North, “An Introduction to Butterflies and Moths”, in Boys’ Life, May 1969 issue, Boy Scouts of America, page 64:

     On the previous evening we had discovered with delight a luna with the fabulous moons, one on each pale green wing.

   • 2010, Sally Roth (contributor), in Judy Pray (compiler), Garden Wisdom & Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Plant, Grow, and Harvest, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 348:

     Spray BT on your young oak to protect against gypsy moths, and you wipe out future lunas, cecropias, and everything else on the leaves, along with the pests.

2. (Christianity, chiefly Catholicism and Anglicanism) A lunette: a crescent-shaped receptacle, often glass, for holding the (consecrated) host (the bread of communion) upright when exposed in the monstrance. [from 19th c.]
   • 1907 May, “Dominicanus”, “The Rosary and the Blessed Sacrament”, in the Dominican Friars, The Rosary Magazine, Volume 30, Number 5, page 494:

     The Bread of Angels is first taken from the tabernacle, where it rests in the luna, and placed upon the altar, covered with a corporal. After genuflecting, the priest puts the luna containing the Blessed Sacrament on its throne—the monstrance—and elevates it […]

   • 1917, John F. Sullivan, The Externals of the Catholic Church, BiblioLife, LLC (2009), →ISBN, pages 115–116:

     This receptacle is called a “luna” or “lunula” (a moon, or a little moon), and has glass on either side, so that the Host may be seen when enclosed therein. […] ¶ […] ¶ The ciborium, the pyx and luna of the ostensorium are blessed with a simpler formula than that used for the chalice, and […] ¶ […] ¶ The chalice, the paten, the luna and the pyx are sacred things, true sacramentals, and are worthy of deepest reverence; for […]

   • 2007, John Trigilio and Kenneth Brighenti, The Catholicism Answer Book: The 300 Most Frequently Asked Questions, Sourcebooks, Inc., →ISBN, page 156:

     The luna, which is a piece of glass in the shape of a moon, contains the Blessed Sacrament, previously consecrated. The luna is then placed in the middle of the sunburst of the monstrance.

Synonyms

• (glass holder): lunette, lunula

Etymology 2

From the Hawaiian word luna (“leader; supervisor”).

Noun

luna (plural luna or lunas)

1. (Hawaii) A foreman on a plantation.
   • 1922, U. G. Murphy, “The Japanese Problem in Hawaii: How the Task of Christianizing and Americanizing the Oriental is Progressing”, in The Friend, Volume 91, Number 6 (June 1922) page 130:

     There are several reasons why the Hawaiian-born Japanese boys and girls do not take kindly to plantation labor, but one of the chief reasons is the objection to the kind of lunas who oversee the work of the laborers.

   • 1959, James Michener, Hawaii (novel),^[2] Fawcett Crest (1986), →ISBN, page 737:

     […] haoles could not visualize Chinese or Japanese in positions of authority. And from sad experience, the great plantation owners had discovered that the Americans they could get to serve as lunas were positively no good. Capable Americans expected office jobs and incapable ones were unable to control the Oriental […]

   • 2000, Sally Engle Merry, Colonizing Hawai'i: the cultural power of law, page 321:

     After the day was over I went to the luna to count my day but he would not. Then I went to him the second time and he said he would not put it down.

   • 2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, p. 35:

     Capital punishment was outlawed by the government but some plantation managers and luna still delivered lashings and other forms of abuse.

Usage notes

• This noun, though inflected as an English word (singular luna, plural lunas), is frequently italicized as a loanword.

Anagrams

• Anlu, auln, luan, ulan, ulna, unal

---

Cebuano

Hyphenation: lu‧nâ
Etymology: cf. Malay duma

Noun

luna

• ones proper place under the sun

Ex. Balik sa imong luna aron walay gubot.

Return to your proper place to avoid trouble.

• room, accommodation

Ex. May luna pa ba ko sa kinabuhi mo?

Is there still room for me in your life?

Verb

pahi~ - to put things in order

Ex. Palad ang mipahiluna nga magkita sila.

It was arranged by fate that they meet.

---

Chavacano

Etymology

From Spanish luna (“moon”).

Noun

luna

1. moon

---

Czech

Etymology

From Old Church Slavonic лоуна (luna), from Proto-Slavic *lunà, from Proto-Indo-European *lewk-. Cognates include Latin luna, Ancient Greek λύχνος (lúkhnos), Old Prussian lauxnos and Middle Irish luan.

Noun

luna f

1. moon

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	luna	luny
genitive	luny	lun
dative	luně	lunám
accusative	lunu	luny
vocative	luno	luny
locative	luně	lunách
instrumental	lunou	lunami

Synonyms

• měsíc

Related terms

• lunární

---

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluna/
• Hyphenation: lu‧na

Adjective

luna (accusative singular lunan, plural lunaj, accusative plural lunajn)

1. (astronomy) lunar

---

Interlingua

Noun

luna (plural lunas)

1. moon

---

Italian

Etymology

From Latin lūna, from Old Latin losna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lowksneh₂, derived from the root *lewk- (“bright”).
Cognates include: Armenian լուսին (lusin), Spanish luna, Portuguese lua, Romanian lună, Russian луна́ (luná)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.na/, [ˈl̺uːn̺ä]
• Rhymes: -una

• audio

  (file)

• Stress: lùna
• Hyphenation: lu‧na

Noun

luna f (plural lune)

1. the Moon
   • c. 13th century, Francis of Assisi, “Cantico di Frate Sole”, Biblioteca del Sacro Convento di San Francesco [3]:

     Laudato ſi mi ſignore ᵱ ſora luna e le ſtelle, in celu lai foꝛmate clarite ⁊ p̃tioſe ⁊ belle.

     Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in heaven you have made them clear and precious and beautiful.

   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, “Inferno [Hell]”, in La divina commedia [The Divine Comedy]‎^[4] (in Italian), 1st edition, Foligno: Printed by Johannes Numeister and Evangelista Mei, published 1472, Canto VII, lines 64-66:

     che tutto l oro che ſotto la luna ¶ et che gia fu de queſte anime ſtanche ¶ none potrebbe farne poſar una

     « […] for all the gold that is beneath the moon, ¶ or ever has been, of these weary souls ¶ could never make a single one repose».

2. (by extension) a planet's natural satellite; moon
3. (archaic, literary, figuratively) a month, moon
   • 1321, Dante Alighieri; Umberto Bosco, Giovanni Reggio, La divina commedia: Inferno [The Divine Comedy: Hell]‎^[5] (in Italian), 12th edition, Firenze: Le Monnier, published 1994, →ISBN, Canto XXXIII, lines 22, 25-26, page 490:

     Breve pertugio dentro da la Muda, ¶ […] ¶ m'avea mostrato per lo suo forame ¶ più lune già, quand'io feci 'l mal sonno […]

     «A narrow perforation in the mew, ¶ […] ¶ had shown me through its opening ¶ many moons already, when I dreamed the evil dream […]

4. (archaic, figuratively, by extension) a time of the year
5. (alchemy) silver
6. (heraldry) a full moon (as opposed to a crescent)

Related terms

• allunare
• luna park
• lunare
• lunaria
• lunario
• lunatico
• lunato
• lunazione
• lunedì
• mezzaluna

Anagrams

• ulna

---

Latin

lūna (the Moon)

Alternative forms

• Lūna (for the sense "the Moon")

Etymology

From Old Latin losna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂, which is derived from Proto-Indo-European *lewk-.
Cognates include Old Church Slavonic лоуна (luna).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈluː.na/, [ˈɫuː.na]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈlu.na/, [ˈluː.na]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Noun

lūna f (genitive lūnae); first declension

1. the Moon
2. (figuratively) a month
3. (figuratively) a night
4. a crescent shape

Inflection

First declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	lūna	lūnae
genitive	lūnae	lūnārum
dative	lūnae	lūnīs
accusative	lūnam	lūnās
ablative	lūnā	lūnīs
vocative	lūna	lūnae

Derived terms

Terms derived from luna

• interlūnis
• interlūnium
• Lūna

• lūnāris
• lūnāticus
• lūnātis

• lūnō
• lūnula
• novilūnium

Descendants

• Aragonese: luna
• Aromanian: lunã
• Asturian: lluna
• Catalan: lluna
• Corsican: luna
• Dalmatian: loina
• Danish: lune
• English: luna, lunar, lune
• Esperanto: luno
• Extremaduran: luna

• Franco-Provençal: lena
• French: lune
• Friulian: lune
• Galician: lúa
• German: Laune
• Ido: luno
• Interlingua: luna
• Interlingue: lune
• Istro-Romanian: lurĕ
• Italian: luna

• Leonese: lluna
• Ligurian: lünn-a
• Lombard: lüna, löna
• Mirandese: lhuna
• Neapolitan: luna
• Novial: lune
• Occitan: luna
• Old French: lune
• Old Portuguese: lũa
• Piedmontese: luna

• Portuguese: lua
• Romanian: lună
• Romansch: glina
• Sardinian: luna
• Sicilian: luna
• Spanish: luna
• Tarantino: lune
• Venetian: łuna
• Walloon: lune

See also

• noctilūca

References

• luna in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• luna in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• luna in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[6], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the sun, moon, is eclipsed: sol (luna) deficit, obscuratur
    
  • the moon waxes, wanes: luna crescit; decrescit, senescit
    
• luna in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• luna in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• luna in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• luna in Richard Stillwell et al., editor (1976) The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press

---

Middle English

Noun

luna (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of lune

References

• “luna (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 June 2018.

---

Neapolitan

Etymology

From Latin lūna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluː.na/
  • (Naples) IPA^(key): [ˈluːnɐ]
  • (Central Apulia) IPA^(key): [ˈluːnə ⁓ ˈlownə ⁓ ˈləʉnə]
  • (Eastern Abruzzo) IPA^(key): [ˈluːnə ⁓ ˈlownə ⁓ ˈlʊːnə] IPA^(key): [ˈlyːnə ⁓ ˈliːnə]

Noun

luna f (plural lune)

1. moon

---

Occitan

Alternative forms

• lua
• luno (Provence)

Etymology

From Latin lūna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlyno]

Noun

luna f (plural lunas)

1. moon

---

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish luna (“moon”).

Noun

luna

1. moon
2. month

---

Polish

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lunà.

Noun

luna f

1. (archaic) moon

Declension

declension of luna

	singular	plural
nominative	luna	luny
genitive	luny	lun
dative	lunie	lunom
accusative	lunę	luny
instrumental	luną	lunami
locative	lunie	lunach
vocative	luno	luny

Derived terms

• lunatyk, luneta

---

Romanian

Noun

luna f

1. definite singular nominative and accusative form of lună.

---

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lunà.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːna/

Noun

luna f (Cyrillic spelling луна)

1. (dated, now rare) moon

Synonyms

• mesec/mjesec

---

Sicilian

Etymology

From Latin lūna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluna/
• Hyphenation: lù‧na

Noun

luna f (plural luni)

1. moon

Derived terms

• luniddì
• lunariari

---

Slovak

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lunà, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂, from *lewk-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluna/
• Hyphenation: lu‧na

Noun

luna f (genitive singular luny, nominative plural luny, genitive plural lún, declension pattern of žena)

1. (archaic, poetic) moon

Declension

Declension of luna

	singular	plural
nominative	luna	luny
genitive	luny	lún
dative	lune	lunám
accusative	lunu	luny
locative	lune	lunách
instrumental	lunou	lunami

Synonyms

• mesiac

Derived terms

• lunárny

Further reading

• luna in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

---

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lunà.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlùːna/
• Tonal orthography: lúna

Noun

lúna f (genitive lúne, nominative plural lúne)

1. moon

Declension

Declension of lúna (feminine, a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	lúna	lúni	lúne
accusative	lúno	lúni	lúne
genitive	lúne	lún	lún
dative	lúni	lúnama	lúnam
locative	lúni	lúnah	lúnah
instrumental	lúno	lúnama	lúnami

Synonyms

• mésec

See also

• Lúna

---

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin lūna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂, which is derived from Proto-Indo-European *lewk-. Cognate with Galician lúa, Portuguese lua, Catalan lluna, French lune, Italian luna, Occitan luna and Romanian lună.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlu.na]

Noun

luna f (plural lunas)

1. moon

Derived terms

• lunar
• luna de miel f
• lunático