moon
UK /muːn/ · US /mun/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms moons mooning mooned the Moon moone
- noun (informal, by extension of Moon) Any natural satellite of a planet. “The stargazer observed the moons of Jupiter for over a year.”
- noun (literary) A month, particularly a lunar month. “They stayed with their aunt and uncle for many moons.”
- noun A representation of the moon, usually as a crescent or as a circle with a face; a crescent-shaped shape, symbol, or object. “The wizard costume was decorated with stars and moons.”
- noun A crescent-like outwork in a fortification. “The moons surrounding the city walls were built in the sixteenth century.”
- noun The eighteenth trump/major arcana card of the tarot.
- noun (cartomancy) The thirty-second Lenormand card.
- noun (card games) In hearts, the action of taking all the point cards in one hand.
- verb (transitive, colloquial) To display one's buttocks to, typically as a jest, insult, or protest. “The hooligans mooned the riot police.”
- verb (intransitive, colloquial) To gaze at lovingly or in adoration.
- verb (intransitive, colloquial, usually followed by over or after) To fuss over something adoringly; to be infatuated with someone. “Sarah mooned over Sam's photograph for months.”
- verb To spend time idly, absent-mindedly.
- verb (transitive) To expose to the rays of the Moon.
- verb (transitive) To adorn with moons or crescents.
- verb (cryptocurrencies, of a coin or token) To rise in price rapidly or suddenly. (from to the moon) “It is impractical if a currency moons and plummets often.”
- verb (card games) To shoot the moon.
- proper noun The Earth's moon; the sole natural satellite of the Earth, represented in astronomy and astrology by ☾.
- proper noun (paganism, mythology) A personification of the moon.
- proper noun The 54th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Morgan County, Kentucky.
Synonyms
satellite calendar month lunar month month ☽ ☾ Cynthia Luna Selene mul:☾ mul:☽ lunation synodic month moonlight moonshine Sun Myung Moon daydream moon around moon on
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English mone, from Old English mōna (“moon”), from Proto-West Germanic *mānō, from Proto-Germanic *mēnô (“moon”), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon; month”), probably from *meh₁- (“to measure”).
Cognate with Scots muin, mune (“moon”), Yola mona, moone (“moon”), North Frisian moune, muun (“moon”), Saterland Frisian Moune (“moon”), West Frisian moanne (“moon”), Alemannic German Maan, manä, manòd, mànund, meini, moanu, Mond (“moon”), Bavarian mone (“moon”), Central Franconian Mond (“moon”), Cimbrian ma, maano, må (“moon”), Dutch maan, maen (“moon”), German Mond (“moon”), Limburgish maon, maond, moan, mond, Moën, Mǫnt, Mǫe̩nt, Mǫǫnt (“moon”), Luxembourgish Mound (“moon”), Mòcheno mu' (“moon”), Vilamovian mönd, mönt (“moon”), West Flemish moane (“moon”), Yiddish מאָנט (mont, “moon”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish måne (“moon”), Faroese and Icelandic máni (“moon”), Norn måni (“moon”), Crimean Gothic mine (“moon”), Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌽𐌰 (mēna, “the Moon”); also Cornish and Welsh mis (“month”), Irish mí (“month”), Manx mee (“month”), Scottish Gaelic mìos (“moon; month”), Latin mēnsis (“month”), Umbrian 𐌌𐌄𐌍𐌆𐌍𐌄 (menzne, “Moon”), Greek μήνας (mínas, “month”), Albanian muaj (“month”), Latvian mēnesis (“month”), mēness (“moon”), Lithuanian mėnuo (“moon; month”), Belarusian and Russian ме́сяц (mésjac, “moon; month”), Bulgarian and Macedonian ме́сец (mésec, “moon; month”), Czech měsíc (“moon; month”), Polish miesiąc, mięsiąc, mniesiąc, niesiąc (“moon; month”), Serbo-Croatian ме̏се̄ц, мје̏се̄ц, mȅsēc, mjȅsēc (“moon; month”), Slovak mesiac (“moon; month”), Slovene mesec (“moon; month”), Ukrainian мі́сяць (mísjacʹ, “moon; month”), Armenian ամիս (amis, “month”), Avestan 𐬨𐬃𐬢𐬵 (mā̊ŋh, “month”), 𐬨𐬂𐬢𐬵𐬀 (måŋha, “moon”), Bactrian μαο (mao), μαυο (mauo, “month”), Central Kurdish and Southern Kurdish مانگ (mang, “moon; month”), Northern Kurdish meh (“month”), Ossetian мӕй (mæj, “moon; month”), Pashto مياشت (myâšt, “month”), Persian مه (mah), ماه (māh / mâh, “moon; month”), Tajik моҳ (moh, “moon; month”), Tocharian A mañ (“moon; month”), Tocharian B meñe (“moon; month”), Sanskrit मस् (mas), मास् (mās, “moon; month”). See also month, a related term within Indo-European.
The usage of "moon" to refer to the act reflected its use as a metaphor for the buttocks since 1743. It was popularised from American student slang in the 1960s.
[Alt: Bright face of the Moon]
From Middle English Mone, mone, from Old English mōna, from Proto-West Germanic *mānō, from Proto-Germanic *mēnô, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), from *meh₁- (“to measure”). Doublet of Máni.
* A variant of Mohan, from Irish.
* A habitational name of Norman origin from Moyon in La Manche. Compare Mounce.
* An Americanized form of German Mohn or a similar surname.
* A variant of Mun, from Korean.
* A variant Romanization of Chinese 文 (Wén), 萬 /万 (Wàn), and 滿 /满 (Mǎn).
* Possibly from Cantonese 滿 /满 (mun⁵, “full; complete”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The celestial orb which revolves round the earth; the satellite of the earth; a secondary planet, whose light, borrowed from the sun, is reflected to the earth, and serves to dispel the darkness of night.
- noun A secondary planet, or satellite, revolving about any member of the solar system; as, the moons of Jupiter or Saturn.
- verb To expose to the rays of the moon.
- verb To act if moonstruck; to wander or gaze about in an abstracted manner.
Etymology [OE. mone, AS. mona; akin to D. maan, OS. & OHG. mano, G. mond, Icel. mani, Dan. maane, Sw. måne, Goth. mena, Lith. men, L. mensis month, Gr. mas moon, month; prob. from a root meaning to measure (cf. Skr. ma to measure), from its serving to measure the time. *271. Cf. Mete to measure, Menses, Monday, Month.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “moon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details