sublunary

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*lewk-“bright; to see; to shine”
2. Latin · derived fromsub-
3. Late Latin · learned borrowing fromsublūnāris“sublunar, sublunary”
4. English todaysublunary

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.

Words from the same roots