Definition of "luna"

“Gee,” whispered Oliver. He sat there staring. “A luna! I never thought I’d see a real luna!”

1944, Elizabeth Enright, Then There Were Five‎, Farrar & Rinehart, page 80

On the previous evening we had discovered with delight a luna with the fabulous moons, one on each pale green wing.

1969, Sterling North, “An Introduction to Butterflies and Moths”, in Boys’ Life, May 1969 issue, Boy Scouts of America, page 64

Spray BT on your young oak to protect against gypsy moths, and you wipe out future lunas, cecropias, and everything else on the leaves, along with the pests.

2010, Sally Roth (contributor), in Judy Pray (compiler), Garden Wisdom & Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Plant, Grow, and Harvest, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., page 348

The Bread of Angels is first taken from the tabernacle, where it rests in the luna, and placed upon the altar, covered with a corporal. After genuflecting, the priest puts the luna containing the Blessed Sacrament on its throne—the monstrance—and elevates it […]

1907 May, “Dominicanus”, “The Rosary and the Blessed Sacrament”, in the Dominican Friars, The Rosary Magazine, Volume 30, Number 5, page 494

This receptacle is called a “luna” or “lunula” (a moon, or a little moon), and has glass on either side, so that the Host may be seen when enclosed therein. […] ¶ […] ¶ The ciborium, the pyx and luna of the ostensorium are blessed with a simpler formula than that used for the chalice, and […] ¶ […] ¶ The chalice, the paten, the luna and the pyx are sacred things, true sacramentals, and are worthy of deepest reverence; for […]

1917, John F. Sullivan, The Externals of the Catholic Church, BiblioLife, LLC, published 2009, pages 115–116

The luna, which is a piece of glass in the shape of a moon, contains the Blessed Sacrament, previously consecrated. The luna is then placed in the middle of the sunburst of the monstrance.

2007, John Trigilio, Kenneth Brighenti, The Catholicism Answer Book: The 300 Most Frequently Asked Questions, Sourcebooks, Inc., page 156

There are several reasons why the Hawaiian-born Japanese boys and girls do not take kindly to plantation labor, but one of the chief reasons is the objection to the kind of lunas who oversee the work of the laborers.

1922 June, U. G. Murphy, “The Japanese Problem in Hawaii: How the Task of Christianizing and Americanizing the Oriental is Progressing”, in The Friend, volume 91, number 6, page 130

[…] haoles could not visualize Chinese or Japanese in positions of authority. And from sad experience, the great plantation owners had discovered that the Americans they could get to serve as lunas were positively no good. Capable Americans expected office jobs and incapable ones were unable to control the Oriental […]

1959, James Michener, Hawaii‎, Fawcett Crest, published 1986, page 737

After the day was over I went to the luna to count my day but he would not. Then I went to him the second time and he said he would not put it down.

2000, Sally Engle Merry, Colonizing Hawai'i: the cultural power of law, page 321

Capital punishment was outlawed by the government but some plantation managers and luna still delivered lashings and other forms of abuse.

2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 35