The moon is a small planetary object that orbits the Earth.
The word moon is a word inherited from Germanic, the language that predated Old English. It is a branch of the reconstructed Proto Indo-European language. There are several spelling variations in Old English, mona and mone, Middle English, mon, moyn, and moone, and finally settling on moon in Middle English. The word moon in Latin is lūna, resulting in many words centered around the moon contain luna, such as lunar.
The moon has been worshipped across many many cultures, including the Greeks and the Japanese. They associated the moon with various gods. The Greeks initially focused on the goddess Selene as the physical representation of the moon, and then later the goddess Artemis as she was being mistaken for Selene upon Roman interaction. The Japanese worshipped a god named Tsukuyomi.
The moon represents feminine energy. It is often associated with strong female figures such as the Greek goddess Hecate and the Celtic goddess The Morrigan. It controls the tides as it orbits the Earth.
Sources:
“Moon, N. (1).” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1526033576.
“Moon - NASA Science.” NASA, NASA, science.nasa.gov/moon/. Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.