Dictionary

moonling en · NOUN

Etymology

From moon + -ling. Compare moon-related origins of lunacy and lunatic.

Meanings

1. (archaic) A simpleton; a lunatic.
   • "Jack is n-not a moonling," Catherine said. "His m-mother became ill before his birth. He c-cannot be blamed for any mental deficiency." 2018, Carolyn Miller, Winning Miss Winthrop:
   • I have a husband, and a two-legg'd one, But such a moonling, as no wit of man, Or roses can redeem from being an ass. 1616, The Devil is an Ass:
   • But allow me to say that you were standing like a moonling on that road. 2009, Sylvia Andrew, Francesca, page 18:
   • Of the members composing this household, there are but two of whom it will be necessary to speak in this connection; and these are the moonling, or simpleton, and the sister of the wife. 1854, The Bride of the Wilderness, page 13:
2. (archaic, poetic) One who is lovesick; one who moons over a beloved.
   • The sky was not quite as blue as her—Thunderation, he was no moonling! 2011, Barbara Metzger, A Suspicious Affair:
   • Here he was, reputed to be a rake among rakes, but he discovered, where Thea was concerned, he was as vulnerable and uncertain as the greenest moonling in love for the first time. 2017, Shirlee Busbee, Swear by Moonlight:
   • Remaining there long enough to hear Those words that moonling longs to hear...I love you 2013, Zara Borthwick, Nicholas Arnold, Wonderful, page 55:
3. A changeling.
   • "I see. He's a black man. But Jacob Millhaven is not black. Eldridge was left on his doorstep as a baby, and the philosopher adopted him." "Oh! Then he's a moonling! He doesn't seem to suffer from any stigma." 2011, M. P. Rogers, Oona Paraselene, page 140:
4. Someone from the Moon.
   • This, together with the 'balloon manufactured entirely of dirty newspaper' in which the dwarf/moonling descends at the tale's opening, points to some self-referential satire on behalf of Poe, a newspaperman himself. 2016, Adam Roberts, The History of Science Fiction, page 142:
   • A shy moonling hangs on the suit of an astronaut and is taken back to earth. 1981, Ruth Beall Heinig, Lyda Stillwell, Creative Drama for the Classroom Teacher, page 248:
   • For a given walking speed, will an earthling astronaut or a moonling do less, equal, or more work when taking a stroll on the Moon, and by what factor? 2010, Michael M. Domach, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, page 204:

Forms