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sublunary

sub·lu·nary

UK/sʌbˈluːnəɹi/ US/sʌbˈluːnɹi/ uncommon literary

adjective

1.
2.

of this earth

  • “transcendental motives for sublunary actions”
  • “fleeting sublunary pleasures”
  • “the nearest to an angelic being that treads this terrestrial ball”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

PIE word *upó The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin sublūnāris (“sublunar, sublunary”) + English -ary (suffix meaning of or pertaining to forming adjectives). Sublūnāris is derived from Latin sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, beneath, under’) + lūnāris (“of or pertaining to the moon, lunar”) (from lūna (“moon”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”)) + -āris (suffix forming adjectives denoting a pertaining to or relationship)). By surface analysis, sub- + lunary. The noun is derived from the adjective.

Phrases

  • sublunary sphere
  • under the stars
  • under the sun

Related words

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.