sublunary
Meanings
Plural: sublunaries
Adjective
- situated between the earth and the moon
Adjective Satellite
- of this earth
- "transcendental motives for sublunary actions"
- "fleeting sublunary pleasures"
Adj
- Situated beneath the moon; specifically, between the moon and the earth.
- In or of this world (as opposed to heaven, etc.); earthly, terrestrial.
- Of or relating to the material world (as opposed to clerical, sacred, or spiritual); ephemeral, temporal, worldly.
- Inferior, subordinate.
Noun
- A person or thing which is of the (material) world.
- A less important person; an inferior, a subordinate.
Origin / Etymology
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.
Synonyms
Antonyms
celestial, ethereal, heavenly, otherworldly, superlunar, superlunary, translunar, translunary, unworldly
Scrabble Score: 14
sublunary is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordsublunary is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
sublunary is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary