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Moonlight vs Moonlit - What's the difference?

moonlight | moonlit |

As a noun moonlight

is the light reflected from the moon.

As a verb moonlight

is to work on the side (at a secondary job), often in the evening or during the night.

As an adjective moonlit is

(lit by moonlight)Lit by moonlight.

moonlight

English

Noun

(-)
  • The light reflected from the moon.Webster's College Dictionary , Random House, 2001
  • (attributive) Illuminated by the light from the moon.The Illustrated Oxford Dictionary , Oxford University Press, 1998

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To work on the side (at a secondary job), often in the evening or during the night.
  • (by extension) To engage in an activity other than what one is known for.

    • Usage notes

    In American English, to moonlight is simply to work at secondary employment;Mish, Drederick C. (ed.). 1995. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.'' 10th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. in British English, it used to imply working secretly (i.e., not paying tax on the extra money earned), but more recent editions of some UK dictionaries no longer mention a difference to the US usage.Treffry, Diana (ed.). 1999. ''Collins Paperback English Dictionary. 4th ed. Glasgow: HarperCollins.

    Derived terms

    * moonlighter

    References

    moonlit

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (senseid)Lit by moonlight.
  • *
  • *:But when the moon rose and the breeze awakened, and the sedges stirred, and the cat’s-paws raced across the moonlit ponds, and the far surf off Wonder Head intoned the hymn of the four winds, the trinity, earth and sky and water, became one thunderous symphony—a harmony of sound and colour silvered to a monochrome by the moon.

    • See also

    * candlelit * sunlit