lunula

American  

[loo-nyuh-luh] / ˈlu nyə lə /

Also lunule

noun

plural

lunulae

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

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lunula British  

/ ˈluːnjuːl, 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

• pseudolunula noun
• pseudolunule noun

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; -ule

Example Sentences

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

From BBC

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

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

From BBC

You may never have heard of this single-celled alga, but sailors and fishermen know its effect very well: the P. lunula algae are the organisms that occasionally make the see glow blue.

From Science Daily

Then use a file to gently shape the sides of your nail, she said, getting rid of any sharp corners, by following the lunula, the lighter colored half moon shape at the nail base.

From New York Times