lunette

American  

[loo-net] / luˈnɛt /

noun

1. any of various objects or spaces of crescentlike or semicircular outline or section.

2. Architecture. (in the plane of a wall) an area enframed by an arch or vault.

3. a painting, sculpture, or window filling such an area.

4. Fortification. a work consisting of a salient angle with two flanks and an open gorge.

5. Ordnance. a towing ring in the trail plate of a towed vehicle, as a gun carriage.

6. Ecclesiastical. Luna.

---

lunette British  

/ luːˈnɛt /

noun

1. anything that is shaped like a crescent

2. an oval or circular opening to admit light in a dome

3. a semicircular panel containing a window, mural, or sculpture

4. a ring attached to a vehicle, into which a hook is inserted so that it can be towed

5. a type of fortification like a detached bastion

6. Also called: lune.  RC Church a case fitted with a bracket to hold the consecrated host

---

Etymology

Origin of lunette

1570–80; < French, diminutive of lune moon < Latin lūna; -ette

Example Sentences

Entering beneath the lunette or peacock window, the oldest part of the historical structure, visitors find themselves in the sheltering canopy of the Palm House beneath the Conservatory’s central glass dome.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 15, 2022

Mrs. Trump, who spent years as a high-fashion model, looks both dignified and beautiful, standing before one of the arch-topped lunette windows located in the private residence of the White House.

From Washington Times • Apr. 3, 2017

A lunette window near the ceiling splashed the canvas with light at an angle similar to that of the implicit light source in Caravaggio’s composition.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 20, 2016

The ornate entrance to the home, with its elliptical limestone archway, peacock-like lunette and marble steps, hints at the architectural delights to come.

From Washington Post • Aug. 19, 2016

The lunette gives Perugino at his best in this period, and the distance, with its rocks, pools of water, cities, plains, and hills, is of fascinating beauty, and fills the spectator with amazement.

From Great Masters in Painting: Perugino by Williamson, George C.