new moon

noun

"new-moon" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“new moon” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and is therefore obscured.

Corpus desk

Index EN-new-moon · new moon · English

new moon · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "N" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for new moon
PropertyValue
Headwordnew moon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “new moon” in English

new moonranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

new moon is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for new moon, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English newe moone, newe mone, equivalent to new + moon. The correct English form is new moon, spelled N-E-W- -M-O-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and is therefore obscured.
  2. 2
    The moon when it is in conjunction with the sun.
  3. 3
    The phase of the moon when it is waxing.
  4. 4
    The moon when it is waxing.
  5. 5
    The day when the new moon is first seen or is expected to appear.

Etymology

From Middle English newe moone, newe mone, equivalent to new + moon.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "new moon"?
"new moon" is spelled N-E-W- -M-O-O-N.
What does "new moon" mean?
As a noun, "new moon" means: The phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and is therefore obscured.
What is the origin of the word "new moon"?
From Middle English newe moone, newe mone, equivalent to new + moon. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list