How did the waxing gibbous moon get its name?

Answer 1

The term waxing comes from an old English word meaning 'growing', while the word crescent originates from the Latin word for 'increasing'. Originally both terms were used to describe the same phase. At one time it was common to use decrescentto describe a waning crescent, but this usage has very much fallen out of favour.

Answer 2

"Gibbous" can be traced back to the latin word gibbus, which means "hump" or "hunch." We currently have no knowledge of where this latin word came from. Gibbous makes sense, then, because when the moon is waxing or waning, it is curved on one side and appears to be hunched over.

"Waxing" comes from the Old English word weaxan, which itself comes from Proto-Germanic wakhsan, which is derived from the Proto-Indo-European prefix wegs-, which means "to cause to grow." This makes sense because the waxing gibbous is the phase of the moon in which it changes from a new moon into a full moon.

Answer 3

"Waxing" is the term used when the Moon's illuminated part is growing in size, (waning means that the lighted part is decreasing).

"Gibbous" means more than half, but not full.

Answer 4

The description "waxing crescent" means it's getting bigger as it changes from a new or crescent moon to a quarter moon. Waxing is an older word, not presently much in use, which means "to grow". It's derived from the German verb "wachsen". The opposite of wax is wane.

Answer 5

Beginning with the New Moon and counting the time until the next New Moon . . .

-- the First Quarter phase is what you see when one quarter of that time has passed, and

-- the Third Quarter phase is what you see when three quarters of that time has passed.

Answer 6

The waxing gibbous moon gets its name from its shape and phase in the lunar cycle. "Waxing" means to increase in illumination, and "gibbous" refers to the moon being more than half but not fully illuminated. This phase occurs as the moon moves from the first quarter to the full moon.