lunar

adjective

lu·​nar ˈlü-nər 

 also  -ˌnär

1

: crescent, lunate

who grasps the struggling heifer's lunar horns

—Alexander Pope

2

a

: of, relating to, or resembling the moon

lunar craters

a lunar landscape

b

: designed for use on the moon

lunar vehicles

3

: measured by the moon's revolution

lunar month

Examples of lunar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

SpaceX won a multibillion-dollar contract from the agency to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander as part of NASA’s Artemis moon program. —Michael Sheetz, CNBC, 16 Jan. 2025

Asked what would happen to Gateway if SLS is cancelled, Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA's director of human and robotic exploration, responded that the cancellation would only impact ESA if no other launcher were able to transport Orion and the ESM to lunar orbit. —Andrew Jones, Space.com, 16 Jan. 2025

The hope is that including the moon on the list will call attention to the need for international agreements and protections for lunar heritage sites. —Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 15 Jan. 2025

Firefly's team plans to operate the 10 NASA instruments for a complete lunar day, equivalent to about 14 Earth days. —Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English lunare, borrowed from Latin lūnāris "of the moon, crescent-shaped," from lūna "moon" + -āris -ar; lūna going back to Indo-European *lou̯k-s-neh₂, derivative of the verb stem *leu̯k- "become bright," whence also Old Church Slavic luna "moon," Russian luná, Old Prussian lauxnos "stars," Armenian lusin "moon"; from a stem *lou̯k-s-no- Old Irish lúan in día lúain "Monday," Avestan raoxšna- "light," (with presumed zero-grade) Greek lýkhnos "lamp" — more at light entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing lunar

• lunar caustic
• lunar eclipse
• lunar module
• lunar month

Kids Definition

lunar

adjective

lu·​nar ˈlü-nər 

1

: of, relating to, or resembling the moon

lunar craters

a lunar landscape

2

: measured by the moon's revolution

lunar month

Medical Definition

lunar

adjective

lu·​nar

ˈlü-nər also -ˌnär

: lunate