måners

Måners is the Danish plural noun for moons, the natural satellites that orbit planets and dwarf planets. In Danish, the singular is måne; the indefinite plural is måner, and the definite plural is månerne. The form måners is not standard Danish and is typically encountered only as a stylized or anglicized representation, sometimes used to indicate a possessive plural (the moons’) in English-language text or when Danish orthography is not followed.

Etymology and forms: Måne comes from Old Norse máni (moon) and Proto-Germanic *mēnô. The common Danish plural is formed with the suffix -er, yielding måner; the definite plural adds -ne to become månerne. The possessive plural in standard Danish is månernes; måners appears mainly in nonstandard contexts.

Usage: In Danish astronomy and science writing, examples include: "Jorden har én måne." (Earth has one moon.) "Planeter som Jupiter har mange måner." (Planets such as Jupiter have many moons.) When referring to the moons as a group, Danish often uses månerne in definite contexts. In English-language text, the word måner is sometimes used as a loanword for the plural of måne, while månerne remains the Danish form.

See also: Moon, Satellite, Danish language, Old Norse.

Notes: The Danish word for month is måned, which is etymologically related but semantically distinct from måne. This can cause confusion for learners encountering similar-looking terms.