galaxy
noun
Newsweek
Did you know?
The system of stars that includes our sun looks, in the night sky, like a broad band of light. We call this band the Milky Way. The idea of the whiteness of the Milky Way being similar to that of milk is much older than the English language, however. Galaxias, the Greek word for the Milky Way, was derived from the Greek gala, “milk.” English galaxy, derived from Greek galaxias, was not used until the 19th century as a generic term for other star systems as well as the one in which we live.
Examples of galaxy in a Sentence
Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
Their cores may even one day even combine, becoming one giant galaxy.
—Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024
October 30, 2024 7:26 AM EDT Until recently, only about two million galaxies had ever been imaged.
—TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
There are other ways of seeing what things were like back then: Astronomers can point cameras directly at galaxies that are 5 billion light-years distant and capture light that left them 5 billion years ago.
—Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near galaxy
Cite this Entry
“Galaxy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/galaxy. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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galaxy
noun
Middle English galaxie "the Milky Way," from Latin galaxias (same meaning), from Greek galaxias "Milky Way," from galakt-, gala "milk"
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