lunar
Americanadjective
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of or relating to the moon.
the lunar orbit.
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measured by the moon's revolutions.
a lunar month.
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resembling the moon; round or crescent-shaped.
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of or relating to silver.
noun
adjective
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of or relating to the moon
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occurring on, used on, or designed to land on the surface of the moon
lunar module
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relating to, caused by, or measured by the position or orbital motion of the moon
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of or containing silver
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Relating to the Moon.
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Measured by the revolution of the Moon around the Earth.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lunar
First recorded in 1585–95, lunar is from the Latin word lūnāris of the moon. See Luna, -ar 1
Explanation
The adjective lunar is used to describe something that is related to the moon. If you like astronomy, you probably enjoy lunar eclipses, when the Earth casts its shadow on the moon. Lunar comes from the Latin word luna, meaning moon. The Roman goddess of the moon is called Luna (Selene in Greek mythology). There are lunar eclipses, a lunar calendar, lunar tides, and lunar orbits. Maybe you want to be the first live-in chef on a lunar space station. You can also hear lunar in the word lunatic — they used to think insanity was related to the cycles of the moon.
Vocabulary lists containing lunar
Over The Moon: Planetary Vocabulary
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Eclipse Vocabulary
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February Vocabulary Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An AFP team saw a chimney spewing out black smoke at the site, which in places resembles a black lunar landscape, in March 2025.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Lunabotics is a university-level competition for teams to use the Nasa systems engineering process to design, build, and operate a lunar robot.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
The robots will be expected to dig up lunar material, drive over obstacles and use the material to form a wall.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
In a review recently published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, the team explored how beneficial fungi might help convert hostile lunar and Martian regolith into a more biologically suitable material for growing crops.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
I know from years of planetarium visits that craters on the moon were caused by asteroids and meteoroids crashing into the lunar surface, especially when the moon was very, very young.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
