What does "moonlight" mean?

1. (light from the moon) the light that you see at night which comes from the moon. 2. (to work a second job) to have a second job that you do secretly, usually in the evening or at night. 3. (leaving without paying rent) leaving a house or apartment secretly at night to avoid paying the rent you owe.

How do you use "moonlight"?

The verb is intransitive and often followed by 'as' to describe the second role.

moonlight

n. · v.

US //ˈmunˌɫaɪt// UK //mˈuːnlaɪt// moon·light

1 light from the moon (n.)
A2 Elementary

the light that you see at night which comes from the moon.

the light reflected from the moon's surface, appearing to emanate from it during the night.

Example

We took a long walk along the beach by the glow of the moonlight.

Example

The silver moonlight cast long, distorted shadows across the valley, making the familiar landscape appear eerie and unrecognizable.
- moonbeams
- moonshine
- sunlight
2 to work a second job (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

to have a second job that you do secretly, usually in the evening or at night.

to hold a secondary job in addition to one's primary employment, often performed at night and sometimes without paying tax.

Example

He is a teacher during the day, but he moonlights as a taxi driver at night.

Example

Several staff members were found to be moonlighting as freelance consultants for the firm's direct competitors, leading to a strict review of their contracts.

Usage

The verb is intransitive and often followed by 'as' to describe the second role.
- side hustle

Show 1 more senseShow fewer

3 leaving without paying rent (n.)
C2 Proficiency British English Informal Dialect

leaving a house or apartment secretly at night to avoid paying the rent you owe.

an act of secretly vacating a property at night to evade rent or other debts; primarily used in the phrase 'do a moonlight'.

Example

The neighbors did a moonlight because they couldn't afford the high rent anymore.

Example

The landlord arrived on Monday morning only to discover that the tenants had done a moonlight over the weekend, leaving the flat entirely empty.

Teacher's tip

This sense is mostly found in British English and is becoming less common in modern speech.
- moonlight flit
- absconding

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s Proto-Germanic *mēnô Proto-West Germanic *mānō Old English mōna Middle English mone Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der. Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz Proto-West Germanic *leuht Old English lēoht Middle English light Middle English moonelight English moonlight The noun is derived from Middle English moonelight, monelight, mone lyght (“light of the moon; (heraldry) pattern of moons on the field of a heraldic banner”), from mon, mone (“moon”) (from Old English mōna (“moon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mḗh₁n̥s (“moon; month”)) + light (“light”) (from Old English lēoht (“light”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”)). By surface analysis, moon + light. The verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.1 (“to secretly leave premises without paying the rent”) is a back-formation from moonlight flit, while verb sense 1.2 (“to make a night-time attack on a tenant farmer”) is probably a back-formation from moonlighter. cognates * Dutch maanlicht * German Mondlicht * Scots muinlicht, munelicht * West Frisian moanneljocht

Idioms2 entries