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n. 1. Architecture a. A small, circular or crescent-shaped opening in a vaulted roof. b. A crescent-shaped or semicircular space, usually over a door or window, that may contain another window, a sculpture, or a mural. 2. A fortification that has two projecting faces and two parallel flanks. 3. A broad, low-lying, typically crescent-shaped mound of sandy or loamy matter that is formed by the wind, especially along the windward side of a lake basin. [French, from Old French lunete, moon-shaped object, diminutive of lune, moon, from Latin lūna; see LUNE.]  (click for a larger image) lunettefresco by Girolamo Romanino (1484?-1560?) in a lunette in the loggia of the Magno Palazzo of the Castello del Buonconsiglio Trent, Italy |
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