noun
Archaic, poetic term for the moon, literally 'jade rabbit', referring to the mythical rabbit in the moon. Not used in modern everyday speech.
古い和歌に「玉兎」が月の異称として詠まれている。
In old waka poems, 'gyokuto' is used as an alternate name for the moon.
Standard modern word for 'moon'; 玉兎 is an archaic, poetic synonym.
From Chinese 玉兔 (yùtù), literally 'jade rabbit', a mythological reference to the rabbit said to live on the moon. The exact historical derivation into Japanese is uncertain.