section_path: Names and etymology
section_name: Names and etymology
paragraph_text: Names and etymology
  
  The usual English proper name for Earth's natural satellite is simply Moon, with a capital M. The noun moon is derived from Old English mōna, which (like all its Germanic cognates) stems from Proto-Germanic *mēnōn, which in turn comes from Proto-Indo-European *mēnsis 'month' (from earlier *mēnōt, genitive *mēneses) which may be related to the verb 'measure' (of time).
  
  Occasionally, the name Luna / ˈ l uː n ə / is used in scientific writing and especially in science fiction to distinguish the Earth's moon from others, while in poetry "Luna" has been used to denote personification of the Moon. Cynthia / ˈ s ɪ n θ i ə / is another poetic name, though rare, for the Moon personified as a goddess, while Selene / s ə ˈ l iː n iː / (literally 'Moon') is the Greek goddess of the Moon.
  
  The English adjective pertaining to the Moon is lunar, derived from the Latin word for the Moon, lūna. Selenian / s ə l iː n i ə n / is an adjective used to describe the Moon as a world, rather than as a celestial object, but its use is rare. It is derived from σελήνη selēnē, the Greek word for the Moon, and its cognate selenic was originally a rare synonym but now nearly always refers to the chemical element selenium. The element name selenium and the prefix seleno- (as in selenography, the study of the physical features of the Moon) come from this Greek word.
  
  The Greek goddess of the wilderness and the hunt, Artemis, equated with the Roman Diana, one of whose symbols was the Moon and who was often regarded as the goddess of the Moon, was also called Cynthia, from her legendary birthplace on Mount Cynthus. These names – Luna, Cynthia and Selene – are reflected in technical terms for lunar orbits such as apolune, pericynthion and selenocentric.
  
  The astronomical symbol for the Moon is a crescent\decrescent, \, for example in M 'lunar mass' (also M).