moonlit

the word 'moonlit' is a transparent compound formed within english from its native germanic elements. the first element, 'moon', descends from old english 'mōna', which has cognates across the germanic languages and traces back to the proto-indo-european root mē-, meaning 'to measure', likely in reference to the moon's use in marking months. the second element, 'lit', is the past participle of the verb 'light', from old english 'līhtan', meaning 'to illuminate'. the compound therefore literally means 'illuminated by the moon', a descriptive term that emerged to poetically capture the specific quality of light provided by the lunar body, contrasting with sunlight or artificial light.

Structure: moon (the moon) + lit (lighted) moon (old english, noun, referring to the celestial body) + lit (old english, past participle of 'light', meaning 'made light' or 'illuminated')