moon

Definition

Any natural satellite of a planet.

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”). cognates and doublets Cognate with Scots mone, mune, muin (“moon”), North Frisian muun (“moon”), Saterland Frisian Moune (“moon”), West Frisian moanne (“moon”), Dutch maan (“moon”), German Mond (“moon”), Danish måne (“moon”), Norwegian Bokmål måne (“moon”), Norwegian Nynorsk måne (“moon”), Swedish måne (“moon”), Faroese máni (“moon”), Icelandic máni (“moon”), Latin mēnsis (“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.

Example Sentences

• "The stargazer observed the moons of Jupiter for over a year."
• "That's no moon, you idiot... it's a space station!"
• "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."

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