Meanings
full moon1
nounfull moon (countable and uncountable, plural full moons)
plural full moons · alternative full Moon · alternative fullmoon
- countableuncountableThe phase of the moon when it is in opposition to the sun and its full disc is therefore visible.
It is true also that the roosters, especially during full moon, crow all night.
1923 May, Lawrence Shaw Mayo, “The Shenando’ Valley”, in The Atlantic Monthly, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 May 2022Antonyms: new moon
full Moon2
nounfull Moon (countable and uncountable, plural full Moons)
plural full Moons
- countableuncountableAlternative letter-case form of full moon.
Dardry could remember when, seen though Pluto’s dusty blue sky, the Sun was a point not much brighter than the Earth’s full Moon.
2017 November–December, Larry Niven, “By the Red Giant’s Light”, in C[harles] C[oleman] Finlay, editor, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 133, numbers 5 and 6 (734 overall), Hoboken, N.J.: Spilogale, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1492 more examples
Historically, Easter was defined as occurring during the first Sunday after the first full Moon after the vernal equinox. However, several systems evolved because the events related to Easter as described in the Bible were not based on a specific calendar date but occurred with reference to the time of the Jewish-Passover and its associated full Moon.
2012, Nick Kanas, “Time and the calendar”, in Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography (Springer-Praxis Books in Popular Astronomy), 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Springer; Chichester, West Sussex: Praxis Publishing, →ISBN, chapter 3 (European cosmology), section 2 (European astronomy during the early Middle Ages), page 68The Moon also feeds our superstitions, believed by some to exert mysterious powers of influence on human behavior, especially during full Moon.
2022, Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Earth & Moon: Cosmic perspectives”, in Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization, New York, N.Y.: Holt Paperbacks, published 2024, →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe phase of the moon when it is in opposition to the sun and its full disc is therefore visible.
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe time when the Moon is fully illuminated
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishfull mōna
- Middle Englishful mone
- Englishfull moon
From Middle English ful mone, from Old English full mōna, equivalent to full + moon.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans volmaan
- volmaanphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Ancient Greek πανσέληνος
- πανσέληνος (pansélēnos)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
Arabic بَدْر, بَدْر
- بَدْر (badr)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- بَدْر (badr)the moon when in opposition to sun
Basque ilargibete
- ilargibetephase of moon when in opposition to sun
Bengali পূর্ণিমা রাত, শবে বদর
- পূর্ণিমা রাত (purnima rat)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- শবে বদর (śobe bodor)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- পূর্ণিমা চাঁদ (purnima cãd)the moon when in opposition to sun
- বদর (bodor)the moon when in opposition to sun
Bulgarian пълнолу́ние, пъ́лна луна́
- пълнолу́ние (pălnolúnie)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- пъ́лна луна́ (pắlna luná)the moon when in opposition to sun
Catalan lluna plena, pleniluni
- lluna plenaphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- pleniluniphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Chinese Mandarin 滿月 /满月, 望月
- 滿月 /满月 (mǎnyuè)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- 望月 (wàngyuè)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
Czech úplněk
- úplněkphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Danish fuldmåne, fuldmåne
- fuldmånephase of moon when in opposition to sun
- fuldmånethe moon when in opposition to sun
Dutch volle maan
- volle maanphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Esperanto plenluno
- plenlunophase of moon when in opposition to sun
Estonian täiskuu
- täiskuuphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Finnish täysikuu, täysikuu
- täysikuuphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- täysikuuthe moon when in opposition to sun
French pleine lune
- pleine lunephase of moon when in opposition to sun
German Vollmond, Vollmond
- Vollmondphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- Vollmondthe moon when in opposition to sun
Greek πανσέληνος, πανσέληνος
- πανσέληνος (pansélinos)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- πανσέληνος (pansélinos)the moon when in opposition to sun
Hebrew ירח מלא, ירח מלא
- ירח מלא (yaréakh malé)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- ירח מלא (yaréakh malé)the moon when in opposition to sun
Hindi बद्र, पूर्णँचन्द्र
- बद्र (badra)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- पूर्णँचन्द्र (pūrṇãcandra)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- पूर्णिमा (pūrṇimā)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- पूर्णमासी (pūrṇamāsī)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- बद्र (badra)the moon when in opposition to sun
- पूर्णँचन्द्र (pūrṇãcandra)the moon when in opposition to sun
- पूर्णिमा (pūrṇimā)the moon when in opposition to sun
- पूर्णमासी (pūrṇamāsī)the moon when in opposition to sun
Hungarian holdtölte, telihold
- holdtöltephase of moon when in opposition to sun
- teliholdphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- teliholdthe moon when in opposition to sun
Icelandic fullt tungl
- fullt tunglphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Indonesian bulan purnama, badar
- bulan purnamaphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- badarphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Irish lánré, iomlán gealaí
- lánréphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- iomlán gealaíphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- gealach lánphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- gealach lánthe moon when in opposition to sun
- lán na réthe moon when in opposition to sun
Italian luna piena, plenilunio
- luna pienaphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- pleniluniophase of moon when in opposition to sun
- opposizionephase of moon when in opposition to sun
- opposizionethe moon when in opposition to sun
Japanese 満月, 望月
- 満月 (mangetsu)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- 望月 (mochizuki)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
Korean 보름달, 만월
- 보름달 (boreumdal)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- 만월 (manwol)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- 망월 (mang'wol)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
Latin plēnilūnium, plēnilūnium
- plēnilūniumphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- plēnilūniumthe moon when in opposition to sun
- lūna plēnathe moon when in opposition to sun
Latvian pilnmēness, pilnacis
- pilnmēnessphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- pilnacisphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Lithuanian pi̇̀lnatis
- pi̇̀lnatisphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Malay purnama
- purnamaphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Māori rākaunui, marama hua
- rākaunuiphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- marama huaphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- rākaunuithe moon when in opposition to sun
- marama huathe moon when in opposition to sun
Norwegian Bokmål fullmåne
- fullmånephase of moon when in opposition to sun
Persian بدر, پرماه
- بدر (badr)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- پرماه (pormâh)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
Polish pełnia, księżyc w pełni
- pełniaphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- księżyc w pełnithe moon when in opposition to sun
Portuguese lua cheia, plenilúnio
- lua cheiaphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- plenilúniophase of moon when in opposition to sun
Romanian lună plină
- lună plinăphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Russian полнолу́ние, по́лная луна́
- полнолу́ние (polnolúnije)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- по́лная луна́ (pólnaja luná)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
Slovak spln
- splnphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Spanish plenilunio, luna llena
- pleniluniophase of moon when in opposition to sun
- luna llenaphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- luna llenathe moon when in opposition to sun
Swahili mwezi mpevu
- mwezi mpevuphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Swedish fullmåne
- fullmånephase of moon when in opposition to sun
Tagalog kabilugan ng buwan
- kabilugan ng buwanphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Tamil முழுநிலவு, முழுமதி
- முழுநிலவு (muḻunilavu)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- முழுமதி (muḻumati)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
- பௌர்ணமி (paurṇami)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
Thai จันทร์เพ็ญ
- จันทร์เพ็ญ (jan-pen)phase of moon when in opposition to sun
Turkish dolunay, bedir
- dolunayphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- bedirphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Urdu بدر
- بدرphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Vietnamese trăng tròn, trăng rằm
- trăng trònphase of moon when in opposition to sun
- trăng rằmphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Welsh lleuad lawn
- lleuad lawnphase of moon when in opposition to sun
Cite this entry
APA
full moon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/full%20moon
MLA
“full moon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/full%20moon. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “full moon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/full%20moon.
Source: full moon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.