Standard Lemma guide

lunula

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈlun.ju.lə/ second syllable stressed
  • US: /ˈlun.jʊ.lə/ second syllable unstressed
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Something shaped like a crescent or half-moon; especially the pale area at the base of the fingernail.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A crescent moon-shaped pendant worn by girls in Ancient Rome.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ancient-Rome, historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a crescent-shaped metal ornament of the Bronze Age

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: decoration, ornament, ornamentation

4

noun

Meaning 4

the crescent-shaped area at the base of the human fingernail

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: half-moon, lunule

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: area, region

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lūnula. By surface analysis, luna + -ula.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: лунула (lunula) — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Catalan: lúnula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Chinese Mandarin: 甲弧影 (jiǎhúyǐng) — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Czech: lunula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Esperanto: lunulo — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Finnish: lunula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Finnish: puolikuu — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • French: lunule — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Galician: lúnula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • German: Nagelmöndchen — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • German: Lunula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Gujarati: નખચંદ (nakhcand) — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Ido: luneto — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Indonesian: lunula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Italian: lunula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Polish: obłączek — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Polish: rąbek — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Polish: lunula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Portuguese: lúnula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Romanian: lunulă — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Russian: лу́нула (lúnula) — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Spanish: lúnula — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Tamil: லுனுலா (luṉulā) — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Ottoman Turkish: هلال (hilal) — pale area at the base of the fingernail
  • Unami: lënapeokàni sàhkihëlënch — pale area at the base of the fingernail