hënore

Hënore is a term used in Albanian to denote things related to the Moon. It functions primarily as an adjective meaning lunar, derived from hënë, the word for Moon, with the suffix -ore. The form hënore is typically the feminine version, with hënor as the masculine counterpart, allowing agreement with nouns of different genders.

In contemporary Albanian, hënore appears in both scientific and literary contexts. In scientific writing, speakers often prefer more neutral terms when translating or borrowing from other languages, but hënore remains common in descriptive passages, educational materials, and folklore. The word can serve to label lunar phenomena, cycles, or regions associated with the Moon, depending on the surrounding nouns and grammatical agreement.

Culturally, the Moon is a persistent motif in Albanian folklore and poetry, and hënore imagery is used to evoke night, change, tides, and cyclical time. As a descriptive device, the term supports both technical explanations of lunar aspects and metaphorical expressions about night, memory, and transformation.

Etymology: hënore derives from hënë (Moon) with the suffix -ore, a productive Albanian pattern for forming adjectives and nouns that indicate relation or property. The term thus embodies the linguistic connection between language and the celestial body it denotes.

See also: Moon; Lunar; Albanian language.