This week’s theme
Words originating in the moon

This week’s words
superlunary
meniscus
moonstruck
blue moon
lunule


This week’s comments
AWADmail 890

Next week’s theme
Toponyms

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(LOON-yool)

MEANING:

noun:
1. The crescent-shaped whitish area at the base of the fingernail.
2. Any crescent-shaped mark, object, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French lunule, from Latin lunula, diminutive of luna (moon). Earliest documented use: 1737. Also known as lunula.

USAGE:

“The majestic creature was yellow with black stripes and had beautiful blue lunules along its hind wings.”
Gary Clark; Butterfly Expert to Speak on Future of Migratory Wonders; Houston Chronicle; Apr 16, 2005.

“Stick it up your lunula. Shane O’Doherty, a contestant on the Irish TV version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, is ready to sue the producer in a dispute over an answer.
At the level equal to about $35,000 US, he was asked, ‘Where in the body is the lunula located?’ His final answer was ‘in the heart’, but the host booted him off, saying the lunula is part of the fingernail.” But now O’Doherty says he has come up with several medical reference books using the same word for a part of the heart. See you in court.”
Doug Camilli; Pen to Perfect Paper; The Gazette (Montreal, Canada); Jun 25, 2001.

See more usage examples of lunule in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: