lunette

The story

1. French · borrowed fromlunette
2. English todaylunette

Unadapted borrowing from French lunette, diminutive of lune (“moon”).

First known use, by meaning

• from 17th c. A small opening in a vaulted roof of a circular or crescent shape.
• from 18th c. A crescent-shaped recess or void in the space above a window or door.
• 18th–19th c. An image or other representation of a crescent moon.
• from 18th c. A field work consisting of two projecting faces forming a wedge each of which extends from one of two parallel flanks.
• from 19th c. A luna: a crescent-shaped receptacle, often glass, for holding the (consecrated) host (the bread of communion) upright when exposed in the monstrance.
• from 19th c. A type of flattened glass used in watch-making.
• from 19th c. The circular hole in the guillotine in which the victim's neck is placed.
• from 20th c. A type of crescent-shaped dune blown up along a lake basin, especially in dry areas of Australia.