moon
proper nounnounverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//muːn//
- United States//mun//
Any natural satellite of a planet.
proper noun
- 1
Variant of MoonAlternative letter-case form of Moon (“the Earth's only permanent natural satellite”).
Immediatly after the tribulacions off thoſe dayes / ſhall the ſun be derkeneth: and the mone ſhall not geve her light / and the ſtarrꝭ ſhall fall from heven / and the powers of hevẽ ſhall move
"I suppose I may have leave to do that!" Yes, she could do that, he said, but there was no road to that place; it lay east of the sun and west of the moon, and she could never find her way there.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s Proto-Germanic *mēnô Proto-West Germanic *mānō Old English mōna Middle English mone English moon 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”). Cognates 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.
noun
- 1
informalAny natural satellite of a planet.
The stargazer observed the moons of Jupiter for over a year.
That's no moon, you idiot... it's a space station!
Temperatures at Neptune are so low that Triton, its only major moon, revealed landscapes of nitrogen and methane ice.
The field’s practitioners believe that as they learn to read the universe using neutrinos, they could make new, unexpected discoveries — much as the lensmakers who first developed the telescope could not have imagined that Galileo would later use it to discover the moons of Jupiter.
- 2
A month, particularly a lunar month.
They stayed with their aunt and uncle for many moons.
For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used Their dearest action in the tented field…
They number their age by Moons or Winters, and say a Woman or a Man is so many Moons old, and so they do with all memorable Actions in life, accounting it to be so many Moons or Winters since such or such a thing happened.
Many moons had waxed and waned when on the afternoon of a lovely summer day a lusty broad-boned knight was riding through the forest of Sherwood.
- 3
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.
- 4
A crescent-like outwork in a fortification.
The moons surrounding the city walls were built in the sixteenth century.
- 5
The eighteenth trump/major arcana card of the tarot.
- 6
The thirty-second Lenormand card.
- 7
In hearts, the action of taking all the point cards in one hand.
verb
- 1
To display one's buttocks to, typically as a jest, insult, or protest.
The hooligans mooned the riot police.
It was ill-advised of Sam to moon the photographer during the shoot.
- 2
To gaze at lovingly or in adoration.
Bradly stood bewitched, mooning at the moon. Betimes he bent in a grotesque posture and looked at it between his legs, which was to rid his mind of preconceived colour values by seeing them upside down.
To completely back down now would be as unnatural as mooning in front of your girlfriend's parents.
- 3
To fuss over something adoringly; to be infatuated with someone.
Sarah mooned over Sam's photograph for months.
You've been mooning after her forever; why not just ask her out?
On some level, the filmmakers behind Monster Trucks must have recognized the ill fit of Till playing a teenager, because they cast Jane Levy, a 27-year-old who can pass for younger but not a decade younger, as Meredith, a nerdy classmate of Tripp’s who moons over him as she insists on making an appointment to tutor him in biology.
[object Object]
- 4
To spend time idly, absent-mindedly.
We were only three on board. The poor old skipper mooned in the cabin.
I mooned around. I was mighty sick of the room by then.
- 5
To expose to the rays of the Moon.
- 6
To adorn with moons or crescents.
- 7
To rise in price rapidly or suddenly. (from to the moon)
It is impractical if a currency moons and plummets often.
I've followed several of the most popular crypto pundits on Twitter and discovered they constantly brag about their one big Hail Mary pick that mooned but neglect to mention – or delete – their numerous fumbles.
- 8
To shoot the moon.
Forms
- plural
- moons
- past tense
- mooned
- past participle
- mooned
- present participle
- mooning
- third person singular
- moons