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Webster 1913 Edition


Sublunary

{

Sub-lu′nar

,

Sub′lu-na-ry

, }
Adj.
[Pref.
sub + lunar
, or
lunary
: cf. F.
sublunaire
.]
Situated beneath the moon; hence, of or pertaining to this world; terrestrial; earthly.
All things
sublunary
are subject to change.
Dryden.
All
sublunary
comforts imitate the changeableness, as well as feel the influence, of the planet they are under.
South.

Sub′lu-na-ry

,
Noun.
Any worldly thing.
[Obs.]

Definition 2024


sublunary

sublunary

English

Adjective

sublunary (comparative more sublunary, superlative most sublunary)

  1. Situated between the earth and the moon; sublunar or cislunar.
  2. Of this world (as opposed to heaven etc.); earthly, terrestrial.
    • Dryden
      All things sublunary are subject to change.
    • South
      All sublunary comforts imitate the changeableness, as well as feel the influence, of the planet they are under.
    • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:
      and the conversation which employed the hours between Friday and me was such as made the three years which we lived there together perfectly and completely happy, if any such thing as complete happiness can be formed in a sublunary state.
    • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19:
      We must infer that God does not know of the existence of our sublunary world.

Derived terms

Noun

sublunary (plural sublunaries)

  1. (obsolete) Any worldly thing.