Dictionary

supermoon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From super- + moon. Coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.

Meanings

1. A full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range.
   • And should the moon happen to hit its ever-shifting orbital perigee at the same time that it lies athwart from the sun, we are treated to a so-called supermoon, a full moon that can seem close enough to embrace – as much as 12 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the average full moon. […] Some astronomers dislike the whole supermoon hoopla. They point out that the term originated with astrology, not astronomy; that perigee full moons are not all that rare, coming an average of every 13 months; and that their apparently swollen dimensions are often as much a matter of optical illusion and wishful blinking as of relative lunar nearness. 2014 September 7, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times:

Forms

Antonyms

micromoon

Coordinates

full moon · new moon

Relateds

syzygy · perigee-syzygy

Synonyms

perigee moon

Translations (22)

da supermåne (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · ga mórghealach (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · ko 슈퍼문 (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · es superluna (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · hu szuperhold (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · ru суперлуние (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · nl supermaan (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · fa مِهمانگ (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · cs superměsíc (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · pl superksiężyc (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · gl superlúa (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · cs superúplněk (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · el υπερφεγγάρι (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · uk супермі́сяць (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · pt superlua (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · it superluna (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · fi superkuu (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · ga mór-ré (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · ja スーパームーン (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · de Supermond (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · cmn 超級月亮 /超级月亮 (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range) · ca superlluna (a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range)