| Luna | ‖n. [ L.; akin to lucere to shine. See Light, n., and cf. Lune. ] 1. The moon. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (Alchemy) Silver. [ 1913 Webster ]
Luna cornea (Old Chem.), horn silver, or fused silver chloride, a tough, brown, translucent mass; -- so called from its resemblance to horn. --
Luna moth (Zool.), a very large and beautiful American moth (Actias luna). Its wings are delicate light green, with a stripe of purple along the front edge of the anterior wings, the other margins being edged with pale yellow. Each wing has a lunate spot surrounded by rings of light yellow, blue, and black. The caterpillar commonly feeds on the hickory, sassafras, and maple.
[ 1913 Webster ] | | Lunacy | n.; pl. Lunacies [ See Lunatic. ] 1. Insanity or madness; properly, the kind of insanity which is broken by intervals of reason, -- formerly supposed to be influenced by the changes of the moon; any form of unsoundness of mind, except idiocy; mental derangement or alienation. Brande. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ] Your kindred shuns your house
As beaten hence by your strange lunacy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. A morbid suspension of good sense or judgment, as through fanaticism. Dr. H. More. Syn. -- Derangement; craziness; mania. See Insanity. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Lunar | a. [ L. lunaris, fr. luna the moon. See Luna, and cf. Lunary. ] 1. Of or pertaining to the moon; as, lunar observations. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Resembling the moon; orbed. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. Measured by the revolutions of the moon; as, a lunar month. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. Influenced by the moon, as in growth, character, or properties; as, lunar herbs. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]
Lunar caustic (Med. Chem.), silver nitrate prepared to be used as a cautery; -- so named because silver was called luna by the ancient alchemists. --
Lunar cycle. Same as Metonic cycle. See under Cycle. --
Lunar distance, the angular distance of the moon from the sun, a star, or a planet, employed for determining longitude by the lunar method. --
Lunar method, the method of finding a ship's longitude by comparing the local time of taking (by means of a sextant or circle) a given lunar distance, with the Greenwich time corresponding to the same distance as ascertained from a nautical almanac, the difference of these times being the longitude. --
Lunar month. See Month. --
Lunar observation, an observation of a lunar distance by means of a sextant or circle, with the altitudes of the bodies, and the time, for the purpose of computing the longitude. --
Lunar tables. (a) (Astron.) Tables of the moon's motions, arranged for computing the moon's true place at any time past or future. (b) (Navigation) Tables for correcting an observed lunar distance on account of refraction and parallax. --
Lunar year, the period of twelve lunar months, or 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, and 34.38 seconds. [ 1913 Webster ]
| | Lunar | n. 1. (Astron.) A lunar distance. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (Anat.) The middle bone of the proximal series of the carpus; -- called also semilunar, and intermedium. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Lunaria | prop. n. A small genus of European herbs of the mustard family, including the herb honesty (Lunaria annua), which is also called moonwort and lunary.
Syn. -- genus Lunaria. [ WordNet 1.5 ] | | Lunarian | n. [ See Lunar, Luna. ] An inhabitant of the moon. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Lunary | a. [ Cf. F. lunaire. See Lunar. ] Lunar. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Lunary | n. [ Cf. F. lunaire. ] (Bot.) (a) The herb moonwort or “honesty”. (b) A low fleshy fern (Botrychium Lunaria) with lunate segments of the leaf or frond. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Lunated | { } a. [ L. lunatus crescent-shaped, p. p. of lunare to bend like a crescent, fr. luna the moon. ] Crescent-shaped; resembling the crescent moon; as, a lunate leaf; a lunate beak; a lunated cross. Gray.
Syn. -- lunular, bicephalous, crescent(prenominal), crescent-shaped. [ 1913 Webster ] Variants: Lunate | | Lunatic | a. [ F. lunatique, L. lunaticus, fr. luna the moon. See Lunar. ] 1. Affected by lunacy; insane; mad; crazy; demented. [ 1913 Webster ] Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic. Wyclif (Matt. xvii. 15). [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Of or pertaining to, or suitable for, an insane person; evincing lunacy; as, lunatic gibberish; a lunatic asylum. [ 1913 Webster ] |
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