moon

The word “moon” means the natural satellite that orbits the Earth, visible in the night sky. In plain terms, earth's satellite in the sky, or (informally) to show your bare bottom, or to daydream longingly.

“Moon” is pronounced moon (/mun/ in IPA).

Here is “moon” used in a sentence: “A full moon lit up the whole beach.”

Words with a similar meaning to “moon” include ☽, ☾ and Luna.

The opposite of “moon” — its antonyms — is moonlet.

Depending on how it is used, “moon” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “moon” comes from Old English. From Old English mona, from an ancient Germanic word for "moon" that shares its root with month — the moon's cycle was one of the earliest ways people measured time.

“Moon” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

The Moon is Earth's natural satellite, a rocky body orbiting our planet. A month is a unit of time. The two are linked: the word 'month' comes from 'moon,' because early calendars measured months by the Moon's cycle of phases, which takes roughly 29.5 days to complete.

The Moon passes through eight phases as the sunlit part we see grows and shrinks: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, and waning crescent. The full cycle takes about 29.5 days, which is roughly one month.

Because the Moon is tidally locked to Earth: it rotates once on its axis in exactly the time it takes to orbit us. This keeps one face permanently turned toward Earth, while the far side — often wrongly called the 'dark side' — stays hidden from view.

A planet orbits the Sun, while a moon orbits a planet. Earth's Moon circles Earth, not the Sun directly. Other planets have their own moons — Jupiter has dozens — and some have none. Moons are natural satellites, not independent worlds travelling around the Sun on their own.