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Some LUNACY around ULNA

ULNA is one of the bones in your arm.  It's the thinner and longer bone opposite the thumb.  When talking about it clinically, ULNAR means "of or around the Ulna".  And more than one are ULNAE.  Those are all classic Latin word endings.

A quick shift of letters gives LUNA (the Moon), and if you're talking about the Moon, those things are LUNAR features.  The superstitious link between the full moon and strange human behavior leads to LUNACY (behavior caused by the Moon) and being a downright LUNATIC (a person supposedly stricken by LUNAR impulses).  A full cycle of the moon (a month) is a LUNATION.

I thought that LUNE word be another word for lunation (month), but it's actually from geometry: a specific curve between two circular arcs, as one circle has a greater diameter than the other the result is shaped like a crescent Moon.  A Moon-shaped object is LUNATE, including a specific bone in your wrist.

Note that Luna is a Latin name for our Moon, so it only applies to our Moon.  Technically, Luna was the Roman goddess of the Moon, related to the Greek goddess Selene, so when we call the Moon "Luna", I suppose we are waxing (a lunar pun!) poetic.  Moons of other planets are not Lunas, they are just moons (not even captitalized).  More than one Moon would be LUNAE, but there is only one Luna ... some of the confusion comes from "luna" (lowercase) being used through the centuries for the Moon or a planet or even stars.

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