[a. F. lunule, ad. L. lūnula, dim. of lūna moon.]
1. Nat. Hist. A crescent-shaped mark, spot, etc.
1828. Stark, Elem. Nat. Hist., I. 138. Whitish lunules on the tail-feathers.
1845. Westwood, Brit. Moths, II. 14. With two rather slightly marked strigæ (between which is a white lunule).
2. Geom. = LUNE3 1. (Cf. LUNULA 1 a.)
1737. in Bailey, vol. II.
1817. Colebrooke, Algebra, etc., 96. A lunule or meniscus.
1872. De Morgan, Budget of Paradoxes, 45. This [Porta’s Elementa Curvilineorum] is a ridiculous attempt, which defies description, except that it is all about lunules.
3. Conch. The crescent-shaped depression in front of the umbo. (Cf. LUNULE 4 a.)
1842. Sowerby, Conch. Man. (ed. 2), 179.
1851–6. Woodward, Mollusca, 298. Cyprina,… umbones oblique; no lunule.
1863. J. G. Jeffreys, Brit. Conchol., II. 233. Lunule deep and heart-shaped.
1866. Tate, Brit. Mollusks, ii. 11.
Hence Lunuled a., crescent-shaped.
1863. Reeve, Land & Freshwater Mollusks, 236. Shell large, oval-globose, slightly lunuled.
