# moonlight

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmuːnlaɪt/ · frequency rank #12,808

## Definitions
1. The light reflected from the Moon, which seems to emanate from it.
2. The silvery colour of the light reflected by the Moon.
3. Synonym of moonshine (“illegally produced or smuggled spirits”).
4. Chiefly in to do a moonlight: short for moonlight flit (“an act of secretly leaving premises without paying the rent, supposedly at night by the light of the Moon; hence, any act of escaping at night”).
5. A picture of a scene illuminated by light reflected by the Moon.
6. A journey made at night when the Moon is shining.
7. An oratorical competition; also, a participant in such a competition.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-?
Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s
Proto-Germanic *mēnô
Proto-West Germanic *mānō
Old English mōna
Middle English mone
Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der.
Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz
Proto-West Germanic *leuht
Old English lēoht
Middle English light
Middle English moonelight
English moonlight
The noun is derived from Middle English moonelight, monelight, mone lyght (“light of the moon; (heraldry) pattern of moons on the field of a heraldic banner”), from mon, mone (“moon”) (from Old English mōna (“moon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon; month”)) + light (“light”) (from Old English lēoht (“light”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”)). By surface analysis, moon + light.
The verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.1 (“to secretly leave premises without paying the rent”) is a back-formation from moonlight flit, while verb sense 1.2 (“to make a night-time attack on a tenant farmer”) is probably a back-formation from moonlighter.
cognates
* Dutch maanlicht
* German Mondlicht
* Scots muinlicht, munelicht
* West Frisian moanneljocht

## Easily confused with
- **moonlit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/moonlight-vs-moonlit)

## Common misspellings (14)
`mmoonlight`, `monlight`, `monolight`, `moolnight`, `moonilght`, `moonlgiht`, `moonligght`, `moonlighht`, `moonlightt`, `moonligth`, `moonlihgt`, `moonllight`, `moonnlight`, `omonlight`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/moonlight