luna

Borrowed from Latin lūna (“moon; month; crescent”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːnə/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Homophones: lunar, looner (non-rhotic)
• Rhymes: -uːnə

luna (plural lunas)

1. (entomology) A luna moth: a member of species Actias luna.
   • 1944, Elizabeth Enright, Then There Were Five‎^[1], Farrar & Rinehart, page 80:

     “Gee,” whispered Oliver. He sat there staring. “A luna! I never thought I’d see a real luna!”

   • 1969, Sterling North, “An Introduction to Butterflies and Moths”, in Boys’ Life, May 1969 issue, Boy Scouts of America, page 64:

     On the previous evening we had discovered with delight a luna with the fabulous moons, one on each pale green wing.

   • 2010, Sally Roth (contributor), in Judy Pray (compiler), Garden Wisdom & Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Plant, Grow, and Harvest, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 348:

     Spray BT on your young oak to protect against gypsy moths, and you wipe out future lunas, cecropias, and everything else on the leaves, along with the pests.

2. (Christianity, chiefly Catholicism and Anglicanism) A lunette: a crescent-shaped receptacle, often glass, for holding the (consecrated) host (the bread of communion) upright when exposed in the monstrance. [from 19th c.]^[1]
   • 1907 May, “Dominicanus”, “The Rosary and the Blessed Sacrament”, in the Dominican Friars, The Rosary Magazine, Volume 30, Number 5, page 494:

     The Bread of Angels is first taken from the tabernacle, where it rests in the luna, and placed upon the altar, covered with a corporal. After genuflecting, the priest puts the luna containing the Blessed Sacrament on its throne—the monstrance—and elevates it […]

   • 1917, John F. Sullivan, The Externals of the Catholic Church, BiblioLife, LLC, published 2009, →ISBN, pages 115–116:

     This receptacle is called a “luna” or “lunula” (a moon, or a little moon), and has glass on either side, so that the Host may be seen when enclosed therein. […] ¶ […] ¶ The ciborium, the pyx and luna of the ostensorium are blessed with a simpler formula than that used for the chalice, and […] ¶ […] ¶ The chalice, the paten, the luna and the pyx are sacred things, true sacramentals, and are worthy of deepest reverence; for […]

   • 2007, John Trigilio, Kenneth Brighenti, The Catholicism Answer Book: The 300 Most Frequently Asked Questions, Sourcebooks, Inc., →ISBN, page 156:

     The luna, which is a piece of glass in the shape of a moon, contains the Blessed Sacrament, previously consecrated. The luna is then placed in the middle of the sunburst of the monstrance.

• (glass holder): lunette, lunula

• luna cornea

From Hawaiian luna (“leader; supervisor”).^[2]

luna (plural luna or lunas)

1. (Hawaii) A foreman on a plantation.
   • 1922 June, U. G. Murphy, “The Japanese Problem in Hawaii: How the Task of Christianizing and Americanizing the Oriental is Progressing”, in The Friend, volume 91, number 6, page 130:

     There are several reasons why the Hawaiian-born Japanese boys and girls do not take kindly to plantation labor, but one of the chief reasons is the objection to the kind of lunas who oversee the work of the laborers.

   • 1959, James Michener, Hawaii‎^[2], Fawcett Crest, published 1986, →ISBN, page 737:

     […] haoles could not visualize Chinese or Japanese in positions of authority. And from sad experience, the great plantation owners had discovered that the Americans they could get to serve as lunas were positively no good. Capable Americans expected office jobs and incapable ones were unable to control the Oriental […]

   • 2000, Sally Engle Merry, Colonizing Hawai'i: the cultural power of law, page 321:

     After the day was over I went to the luna to count my day but he would not. Then I went to him the second time and he said he would not put it down.

   • 2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 35:

     Capital punishment was outlawed by the government but some plantation managers and luna still delivered lashings and other forms of abuse.

• This noun, though inflected as an English word (singular luna, plural lunas), is frequently italicized as a loanword.

• Alun, An-lu, Anlu, Lu'an, auln, luan, ulan, ulna, unal

From Latin lūna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

luna f (plural lunas)

1. moon

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “luna”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

cf. Malay duma

• Hyphenation: lu‧nâ

luna

1. one's proper place under the sun

   Balik sa imong luna aron walay gubot.

   Return to your proper place to avoid trouble.

2. room, accommodation

   May luna pa ba ko sa kinabuhi mo?

   Is there still room for me in your life?

luna

1. pahi~ - to put things in order

   Palad ang mipahiluna nga magkita sila.

   It was arranged by fate that they meet.

Inherited from Spanish luna (“moon”).

luna

1. moon

From Latin lūna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

luna f

1. moon

• “luna” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

Inherited from Old Czech luna, from Proto-Slavic *lunà, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *láukšnāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂. Cognates include Latin lūna, Ancient Greek λύχνος (lúkhnos), Old Prussian lauxnos and Middle Irish luan.

• IPA^(key): [ˈluna]

luna f

1. (poetic) moon

   Synonym: měsíc

• “luna”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “luna”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “luna”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

From luno (“moon”) +‎ -a.

• IPA^(key): /ˈluna/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -una
• Hyphenation: lun‧a

luna (accusative singular lunan, plural lunaj, accusative plural lunajn)

1. (astronomy) lunar

From Old Galician-Portuguese lũa, from Latin lūna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

• IPA^(key): /ˈluna/
• Rhymes: -una
• Syllabification: lu‧na

luna f (plural lunas)

1. moon

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[3], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

luna (ORB, broad)

1. alternative form of lena (“moon”)

• lune in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• luna in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.na/, [ˈlu.nə]

From Proto-Polynesian *luŋa (“above, top”). Cognate with Maori runga (“above”).

luna

1. top, upper

• kia luna (“topmast”)
• koma luna (“apostrophe”)
• papahele o luna (“upper floor”)

luna

1. above, atop, on, in

   Kau i luna o ka waʻa.

   Get into the canoe.

• maluna (“upward”)

Possibly a specialised use of the preceding noun. A derivation from Proto-Polynesian *runaŋa (“council, assembly”) has also been suggested, but this is problematic on both phonetic and semantic grounds.

luna

1. boss, overseer, foreman, supervisor
2. (in combinations) any kind of official
3. chief piece in the game of kōnane

• → English: luna

• luna in Combined Hawaiian Dictionary, at trussel2.com.

luna (plural lunas)

1. moon

From Luna, from Latin lūna, from Old Latin losna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂, derived from the root *lewk- (“bright”). Cognates include Armenian լուսին (lusin), Spanish luna, Portuguese lua, Romanian lună, Russian луна́ (luná).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.na/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: Luna
• Rhymes: -una
• Hyphenation: lù‧na

luna f (plural lune)

1. (colloquial, astronomy, by extension of Luna) a natural satellite

   Synonym: satellite naturale

2. (archaic, literary) a month, moon
   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XXXIII”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 22, 25–27; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Breve pertugio dentro da la Muda,
     […]
     m’avea mostrato per lo suo forame
     più lune già, quand’io feci ’l mal sonno
     che del futuro mi squarciò ’l velame

     "A narrow opening in the mew had already shown me many moons through its hole, when I dreamed the evil dream that tore apart the veil of the future for me."

3. (archaic, figurative, by extension) a time of the year
4. (alchemy) silver
5. (heraldry) a full moon (as opposed to a crescent)

• ulna

From Latin lūna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

luna f (plural lunas)

1. moon

• Joseph Nehama, Jesús Cantera (1977) Dictionnaire du Judéo-Espagnol (in French), Madrid: CSIC, →ISBN, page 332

• Lūna (for the sense "the Moon" and the goddess)
• losna (Praenestine)
• ☽, ☾ (alchemy)

From Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂, which is derived from Proto-Indo-European *lewk-. By surface analysis, lūx +‎ -na.

Cognates include Proto-Slavic *luna.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫuː.na]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈluː.na]

lūna f (genitive lūnae); first declension

1. (astronomy) a moon
2. (figuratively) moonlight, moon shine
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.697:

     lūna fuit: spectant iuvenem gladiōsque recondunt

     There was moonlight: They look upon the young man, and sheathe their swords

3. (figuratively) a month
4. (figuratively) a night
5. a crescent shape
6. (alchemy, chemistry) silver

First-declension noun.

• noctilūca

• “luna”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “luna”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "luna", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[4], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the sun, moon, is eclipsed: sol (luna) deficit, obscuratur
    
  • the moon waxes, wanes: luna crescit; decrescit, senescit
    
• “luna”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “luna”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• “luna”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• “luna”, in Richard Stillwell et al., editor (1976), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press

luna

1. pillow

From Latin lūna, from Old Latin losna.

luna f

1. (Old Lombard) the moon

• Lombard: lüna, löna

luna

1. alternative form of lune

Inherited from Latin lūna.

• IPA^(key): /ˈluna/
  • (Naples) IPA^(key): [ˈluːnɐ]
  • (Central Apulia) IPA^(key): [ˈluːnə ⁓ ˈlownə ⁓ ˈləʉnə]
  • (Eastern Abruzzo) IPA^(key): [ˈluːnə ⁓ ˈlownə ⁓ ˈlʊːnə] IPA^(key): [ˈlyːnə ⁓ ˈliːnə]

luna f (plural lune)

1. moon

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 361: “la luna” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it

• lua
• luno (Provence)

From Old Occitan luna, from Latin lūna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

• IPA^(key): [ˈlyno]

• Audio:

  (file)

luna f (plural lunas)

1. moon

• łuna (alternative writing)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lunà, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *láukšnāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈɫuna/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈluna/

luna f (poetic)

1. moon

   Synonym: měsiec

2. glow; light beam

   luna měsiečná

   moonbeam

• Czech: luna

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “luna”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Borrowed from Spanish luna (“moon”).

luna

1. moon
2. month

Learned borrowing from Latin lūna. Doublet of łuna and Roksana.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.na/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -una
• Syllabification: lu‧na
• Homophone: Luna

luna f

1. (archaic, poetic) moon

   Synonyms: księżyc, miesiąc

• luna in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.na/
• Rhymes: -una
• Hyphenation: lu‧na

luna

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of lună: the moon, the month

From Latin lūna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

luna f (plural lunas)

1. moon

• “luna”, in Ditzionàriu in línia de sa limba e de sa cultura sarda [Online Dictionary of the Sardinian Language and Culture] (in Sardinian, Italian, and English), Autonomous Region of Sardinia [Sardinian: Regione Autonoma della Sardegna]

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *luna, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *láukšnāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

• IPA^(key): /lǔːna/

lúna f (Cyrillic spelling лу́на)

1. moon

   Synonym: mesec/misec/mjesec

• “luna”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

From Latin lūna.

• IPA^(key): /ˈluna/
• Hyphenation: lù‧na

luna f (plural luni)

1. moon

• luniddì
• lunariari

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lunà.

• IPA^(key): [ˈluna]
• Hyphenation: lu‧na

luna f (genitive singular luny, nominative plural luny, genitive plural lún, declension pattern of žena)

1. (archaic, poetic) moon

   Synonym: mesiac

• lunárny

• “luna”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

From Proto-Slavic *lunà, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *láukšnāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂.

• IPA^(key): /lùːna/

lúna f

1. moon

   Synonym: mésec

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	lúna
gen. sing.	lúne
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	lúna	lúni	lúne
genitive (rodȋlnik)	lúne	lún	lún
dative (dajȃlnik)	lúni	lúnama	lúnam
accusative (tožȋlnik)	lúno	lúni	lúne
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	lúni	lúnah	lúnah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	lúno	lúnama	lúnami

• Lúna

• “luna”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “luna”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Inherited from Latin lūna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂, which is derived from Proto-Indo-European *lewk-. Cognate with Galician lúa, Portuguese lua, Catalan lluna, French lune, Italian luna, Occitan luna and Romanian lună.

• IPA^(key): /ˈluna/ [ˈlu.na]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -una
• Syllabification: lu‧na

luna f (plural lunas)

1. moon

   A veces puedo ver la luna en la mañana.

   Sometimes I can see the moon in the morning

• Papiamentu: luna

• “luna”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

• nula