lunar cycle

[ loo-ner sahy-kuhl ]

noun

, Astronomy.

1. a cycle of 235 synodic months, very nearly equal to 19 years, after which the new moon occurs on the same day of the year as at the beginning of the cycle with perhaps a shift of one day, depending on the number of leap years in the cycle.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lunar cycle¹

First recorded in 1695–1705

Example Sentences

December’s perigee will coincide with the point in the lunar cycle where the moon is between the Earth and the Sun, with its illuminated face facing away from us.

From Popular-Science

Neal points out the SOFIA study isn’t able to provide a complete picture of why the distribution of glass appears as a function of latitude, or how it might change over a full lunar cycle.

From MIT Technology Review

If the one number 1,260 stood alone, the fact that it was so close a lunar cycle might easily be ascribed to a mere coincidence.

From Project Gutenberg

He also mentions the lunar cycle, and uses the dominical letter with the kalends of several years.

From Project Gutenberg

By means of the lunar cycle the new moons of the calendar were indicated before the Reformation.

From Project Gutenberg

When the golden number is 19, that is to say, in the last year of the lunar cycle, the supplementary month contains only 29 days.

From Project Gutenberg

Perry-Coste, as we shall see, accepts a strictly lunar cycle of 29½ days.

From Project Gutenberg