Lunar /(lū"nẽr)/

Lu·nar

Lunar

a.
  1. Of or pertaining to the moon; as, lunar observations.
  2. Resembling the moon; orbed.
  3. Measured by the revolutions of the moon; as, a lunar month.
  4. Influenced by the moon, as in growth, character, or properties; as, lunar herbs.

Phrases & Compounds
Lunar caustic
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
Tables of the moon's motions, arranged for computing the moon's true place at any time past or future.
Lunar year
the period of twelve lunar months, or 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, and 34.38 seconds.

Lunar

n.
  1. A lunar distance. (Astron.)
  2. The middle bone of the proximal series of the carpus; -- called also semilunar, and intermedium. (Anat.)