Etymograph

English

lunar

Lunar comes from Latin lūnāris ‘of or pertaining to the moon, lunar’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘bright’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-1‘bright’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lówksneh₂1‘moon’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*louksnā1‘moon’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūna1‘moon’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūnāris2‘of or pertaining to the moon, lunar’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lunar2‘shaped like the crescent moon’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1631lunar2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin lunaris
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English lunar
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1631, Francis Bacon: “Some of the Ancients, and likewiſe diuers of the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-Wiktionary, Latin lunaris‘bright’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lówksneh₂Wiktionary, Latin lunaris‘moon’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*louksnāWiktionary, Latin lunaris‘moon’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūnaWiktionary, Latin lunaris‘moon’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūnārisWiktionary, English lunar‘of or pertaining to the moon, lunar’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lunarWiktionary, English lunar‘shaped like the crescent moon’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1631lunarWiktionary, English lunar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1631, Francis Bacon: “Some of the Ancients, and likewiſe diuers of the…”

The story

From Middle English lunar (‘shaped like the crescent moon’), from Latin lūnāris (‘of or pertaining to the moon, lunar’) (possibly through Middle French lunaire (modern French lunaire (‘lunar’)), from lūna (‘the Moon; crescent shape’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (‘bright; to shine’)) + -is (suffix forming adjectives).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘bright’

light, low, link, los, lucy, lea, ounce, lynx, translucent, illumination, luminous, lucid, illuminate, lux, lumen, luminosity, luce, lumia, loach, leucine, luminescent, lum, luminal, luminary, 74 more

through Latin lūna ‘moon’

lunatic, lune, 13 more

Today it means

adj Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon (that is, Luna, the Earth's moon).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lunar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin lunaris. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lewk- / lunar

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