What does "moon" mean?
Any natural satellite of a planet.
Moon
/muːn/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any natural satellite of a planet.
- Grammar: moon is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abundant year, academic year, annum, april showers.
- Useful contrasts: the sun, conceal, cover.
- Usage evidence: Tomorrow, he will land on the moon.
How to use "moon"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "moon" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "moon" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "moon" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "moon" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "moon" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abundant year" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "moon", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any natural satellite of a planet. broadly, informal
"The stargazer observed the moons of Jupiter for over a year."
- 2 any natural satellite of a planet wordnet
- 3 A month, particularly a lunar month. literary
"They stayed with their aunt and uncle for many moons."
- 4 any object resembling a moon wordnet
- 5 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."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 the light of the Moon wordnet
- 7 A crescent-like outwork in a fortification.
"The moons surrounding the city walls were built in the sixteenth century."
- 8 the period between successive new moons (29.531 days) wordnet
- 9 The eighteenth trump/major arcana card of the tarot.
- 10 The thirty-second Lenormand card.
- 11 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. colloquial, transitive
"The hooligans mooned the riot police."
- 2 expose one's buttocks to wordnet
- 3 To gaze at lovingly or in adoration. colloquial, intransitive
"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."
- 4 be idle in a listless or dreamy way wordnet
- 5 (usually followed by over or after) To fuss over something adoringly; to be infatuated with someone. colloquial, intransitive
"Sarah mooned over Sam's photograph for months."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 have dreamlike musings or fantasies while awake wordnet
- 7 To spend time idly, absent-mindedly.
"We were only three on board. The poor old skipper mooned in the cabin."
- 8 To expose to the rays of the Moon. transitive
- 9 To adorn with moons or crescents. transitive
- 10 To rise in price rapidly or suddenly.
"It is impractical if a currency moons and plummets often."
- 11 To shoot the moon.
Proper Noun
- 1 Alternative letter-case form of Moon (“the Earth's only permanent natural satellite”). alt-of, singular, singular-only, with-definite-article
"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"
- 2 The Earth's moon; the sole natural satellite of the Earth, represented in astronomy and astrology by ☾.
"I kind of have two Moons up there. I look at the Moon just like everybody else who's never been there. But every once in a while I do think of the second Moon, the one that I recall from up close and, yeah, it is kind of hard to believe that I was actually up there."
- 3 A surname.
- 4 A personification of the moon.
"Women's rhythm of life, her monthly renewal with her patroness the Moon, is the most important thing in her existence."
- 5 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Morgan County, Kentucky.
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 The 54th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
- 7 A number of places in the United States:; A township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
- 8 A number of places in the United States:; A ghost town in Pennington County, South Dakota.
- 9 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Mathews County, Virginia.
- 10 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Marathon County, Wisconsin.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Tomorrow, he will land on the moon."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "moon"?
Common synonyms include: abundant year, academic year, annum, april showers, artemis, artificial satellite.
How do you use "moon" in a sentence?
Tomorrow, he will land on the moon.
How do you pronounce "moon"?
Pronounced /muːn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
From Middle English Mone, mone, from Old English mōna, from Proto-West Germanic *mānō, from Proto-Germanic *mēnô, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), from *meh₁- (“to measure”). Doublet of Máni.
Etymology 3
* A variant of Mohan, from Irish. * A habitational name of Norman origin from Moyon in La Manche. Compare Mounce. * Americanized form of German Mohn or a similar surname. * A variant of Mun, from Korean. * A variant Romanization of Chinese 文 (Wén), 萬 /万 (Wàn), and 滿 /满 (Mǎn). * Possibly from Cantonese 滿 /满 (mun⁵, “full; complete”).