sublunary

Meanings

1. Situated beneath the moon; specifically, between the moon and the earth.
2. In or of this world (as opposed to heaven, etc.); earthly, terrestrial.
3. Of or relating to the material world (as opposed to clerical, sacred, or spiritual); ephemeral, temporal, worldly.
4. Inferior, subordinate.

1. A person or thing which is of the (material) world.
2. A less important person; an inferior, a subordinate.

Etymology

PIE word *upó The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin sublūnāris (“sublunar, sublunary”) + English -ary (suffix meaning of or pertaining to forming adjectives). Sublūnāris is derived from Latin sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, beneath, under’) + lūnāris (“of or pertaining to the moon, lunar”) (from lūna (“moon”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”)) + -āris (suffix forming adjectives denoting a pertaining to or relationship)). By surface analysis, sub- + lunary. The noun is derived from the adjective.