‖ luna
(ˈl(j)uːnə)
Also 7 anglicized lune.
[L. lūna moon.]
(In senses 1 and 2 written with capital L as proper name.)
1. The moon (personified).
| a 1529 Skelton Bowge of Courte 3 Whan Luna, full of mutabylyte, As emperes the dyademe hath worne Of our pole artyke. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. ii. 39 Dul. What is dictima? Nath. A title to Phebe, to Luna, to the Moone. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. ii. iv. 19 And Luna hides her selfe to pleasure vs. 1836 M. Mackintosh Cottager's Dau. 319 Luna shone bright in the blue arch above. |
2. † a. Alch. Silver (obs.). b. Her. The name used for argent, in the blazon of sovereign princes.
| c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 273 Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 89 To melt one part of Luna with 3 parts of Venus. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 45 When Ioue they turne to Sol or Luna fine. 1606 J. Davies (Heref.) Select Second Husband (Grosart) 7/1 Though Beauty then seem Sol, at least as rich, It will be found but Lune, on Tryalls touch. 1641 French Distill. vi. (1651) 196 Take..of our lune, not of the vulgar, graines two. 1652 Ashmole Theatr. Chem. 198 Luna ys a pure white Body of clene Mercury & Sulphur white ingendered. 1709 Hearne Collect. 6 Nov. (O.H.S.) II. 301 A Cross Patée Luna. 1758 [see Jupiter 2 b]. 1828–40 Berry Encycl. Her. |
c. luna cornea = horn silver, chloride of silver fused. Also Lunæ (incorrectly Luna) cornua.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Luna Cornea or Lunæ Cornua, a tough, tasteless Mass, almost like Horn, made by pouring Spirit of Salt.. on Crystals of Silver. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 33 One hundred parts of..salt, 235 parts of Luna cornua well dried. 1890 Abney Photogr. (ed. 6), Silver chloride, known to them [alchemists] as Luna cornua. |
3. More fully luna-moth: A large moth of North America, Actias luna, having crescent-shaped spots on the wings.
| 1884 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) II. 458 The luna moth, Actias luna, is unrivalled for loveliness and beauty. 1869 Amer. Naturalist II. 679/2 Luna moth. 1876 Field & Forest II. 72 Mr. Rodgers..gives the history of the Luna moth. 1948 Natural Hist. Dec. 451/1 The Hercules moth is a close relative of the well-known Luna moth. 1972 Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. 267 Luna Moth: Actias luna... Wings are delicate green, shading to pale gray, with transparent eyespots... Larva..resembles the Polyphemus larva except that Luna has yellow lateral stripe and no oblique stripes on the side. 1974 A. Dillard Pilgrim at Tinker Creek x. 159 Luna moths are those fragile ghost moths, fairy moths, whose five-inch wings are swallow-tailed, a pastel green bordered in silken lavender. |