lunula

American  

[loo-nyuh-luh] / ˈlu njə lə /

Also lunule

noun

• lunulae
  plural

1. something shaped like a narrow crescent, as the small, pale area at the base of the fingernail.

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lunula British  

/ ˈluːnjʊlə /

noun

1. Nontechnical name: half-moon.  the white crescent-shaped area at the base of the human fingernail

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pseudolunula
  noun
• pseudolunule
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lunulae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lunula

First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin lūnula “crescent-shaped ornament,” literally “little moon,” equivalent to lūn(a) “moon” + -ula, feminine diminutive noun suffix; see -ule

Explanation

You know how we refer to anything to do with the moon as "lunar"? Well, that word plays into the meaning of lunula, which is something with a curved, half-moon shape — like the white at the base of your fingernails. The Latin word for moon is lūna, which was also one of the name of the Roman moon goddess. From that we get lunula, which is the name of the nail matrix, the living part of the fingernail and toenail, a visible white, half-moon-shape at the nail’s base. Here's a spelling hint: the plural of lunula is lunulae, adding an e instead of an s, a spelling rule peculiar to words that have a Latin origin and end in a.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lunula lunulae

The museum's Bronze age collection includes gold ingots, bracelets, and a lunula necklace.

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2025

Neither the museum or the police have specified what items were stolen, but the museum's Bronze Age collection includes gold ingots, bracelets and a lunula necklace.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2025

P. lunula manages to avoid this natural behaviour.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024

P. lunula cannot use that same strategy: it has chloroplasts organized in the form of a complex network, necessitating a different form of motion to avoid bright light.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024

This portion consequently looks pale compared with the laminated portion, and from its half-moon shape is technically termed lunula.

From A Treatise on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene (Revised Edition) by Calvin Cutter

These lunulae are found in profusion all over Ireland.

From The Glories of Ireland by P. J. Lennox

The upper side of the lower wings has an abbreviated series of marginal points on the outside of an arched series of violet-coloured whitish lunulae.

From Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 — Volume 2 by Phillip Parker King