lunette

[loo-net] Origin

lu·nette

[loo-net]
noun
1.
any of various objects or spaces of crescentlike or semicircular outline or section.
2.
Architecture. (in the plane of a wall) an area enframed by an arch or vault.
3.
a painting, sculpture, or window filling such an area.
4.
Fortification. a work consisting of a salient angle with two flanks and an open gorge.
5.
Ordnance. a towing ring in the trail plate of a towed vehicle, as a gun carriage.
EXPAND
6.
Ecclesiastical. Luna (def. 3).
COLLAPSE

Origin:
1570–80; < French, diminutive of lune moon < Latin lūna; see -ette
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Lunette is always a great word to know.
So is frontispiece. Does it mean:
a series of arches supported on piers or columns; an arched or covered passageway
a fa?ade, or a part or feature of a fa?ade, often highlighted by ornamentation
Collins
World English Dictionary
lunette (luːˈnɛt)
 
n
1.  anything that is shaped like a crescent
2.  an oval or circular opening to admit light in a dome
3.  a semicircular panel containing a window, mural, or sculpture
4.  a ring attached to a vehicle, into which a hook is inserted so that it can be towed
5.  a type of fortification like a detached bastion
6.  RC Church Also called: lune a case fitted with a bracket to hold the consecrated host
 
[C16: from French: crescent, from lune moon, from Latin lūna]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

lunette
1580, from M.Fr., lit. "little moon," dim. of lune "moon," from L. luna. Originally a type of horse shoe, later applied to a wide range of objects and ornamentations resembling a crescent moon.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

lunette

arching aperture in a wall or concave ceiling. It may be crescent-shaped or semicircular. The word is the French diminutive of lune, "moon." Lunettes may function as windows, they may form a cove for ornament or statuary, or they may be simply a section of wall framed by an arch or vault. In the last case, the area will sometimes be decorated with a mural.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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