lluna

Forms

lluna f (plural llunes)^[1] The medieval texts usually write luna;^[2][3][4] Ausiàs March uses that spelling.^[2][3][4] The DCVB records /ʎúnə/ and /ʎúnɛ/ in the east and /ʎúna/ in the west and Valencia.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan luna, which is inherited from Latin lūna (“moon”).^{[2][5][6][7][1]}

The same Latin word is Spanish luna, Portuguese lua, Italian luna, French lune and Romanian lună.^[8][1]

The Latin word has an older form losna, in an inscription from Praeneste.^[9][10] De Vaan traces it to Proto-Italic *louksnā and a Proto-Indo-European adjective meaning "shining, bright", a base also found in lūmen and lūstrum;^[9][1] Wiktionary gives *lówksneh₂, from *lewk- (“bright”).^[9][1] A cognate is λύχνος (lúkhnos, “lamp”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines finds the word from the beginnings of the written language, in Llull, Jaume I and the Costums de Tortosa.^[2] Jaume I recalls a night at sea when there was a fine moon (faía bela luna); the Costums de Tortosa (1272) rule that timber must be cut de luna, in the right phase of the moon.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From the right phase for cutting timber came the general sense "good time for a task", as in Jaume Roig's Spill (1460).^[2][3] Medieval texts also use the word for the lunar month: Vicent Ferrer counts the days of Passover de la luna.^[3] By likeness of shape it named a round pane of glass, and in 1413 the glass of a reliquary.^[3] The Tirant lo Blanc describes a necklace of half-moons.^[3]

Labèrnia (1839) adds madness caused by the moon, the glass of a mirror, the drops of fat on soup and an inner courtyard.^[11] In the Principality country people distinguish lluna nova, lluna plena and lluna vella, the waning moon.^[2]

The phrase lluna de mel is common to all the Romance languages, and to English honeymoon;^[2] Coromines discusses the theories of its origin without settling it.^[2] An old derivative is enllunat (14th century).^[6]

Timeline

• 1244–1274 – Jaume I's chronicle has faía bela luna.^[2]
• 1272 – the Costums de Tortosa require timber to be cut de luna.^[2][6]
• 1306–1324 – CICA's first record of the spelling Lluna, in the Manual de Consells of Valencia.^[4]
• 1400 – Vicent Ferrer says that the moon is a stone without a soul.^[3]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanc describes a necklace of half-moons.^[3]
• 1839 – Labèrnia gives the senses moon, madness and mirror glass.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The moon, the natural satellite of the Earth (written Lluna as an astronomical name): Aquesta nit hi ha lluna plena.^[12][7][1]
2. A lunar month.^[12][5]
3. A phase of the moon, as it was thought to affect people and things; hence a person's mood: estar de mala lluna.^[12][7]
4. A natural satellite of any planet.^[12]
5. The glass of a mirror; a large thick pane of glass, as of a shop window.^[12][13]
6. A round spot of oil or fat on a liquid; a round spot printed on cloth or paper.^[12]
7. lluna de mel: honeymoon.^[12][2]
8. mitja lluna: a crescent.^[12][3]

Word family

• allunar
• enllunat
• llunat
• lluneta
• lluner

Related words

• llunàtic
• lunar
• llunació
• Latin lūna
• Spanish luna

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 5, 305
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. lluna
4. ^ a b c Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. lluna
5. ^ a b c Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. lluna
6. ^ a b c d Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 552
7. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. lluna
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. luna
9. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. lluna
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. lluna
13. ^ Vallès, Emili (1927), Pal·las: diccionari català il·lustrat, Barcelona: Salvat, p. s.v. lluna