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.
Synonyms
- light-year
- world
Example Sentences
Toby Grey, BGR, 16 Sep. 2022 The blue shows the nuclear core and young stars, the cyan and green highlight older stars, pink indicates star formation and red marks dust through the galaxy, with lighter oranges being hotter areas of dust. Julia Musto, Fox News, 31 Aug. 2022 And since Thor, the heir to the throne, is galavanting through the galaxy instead of fulfilling his royal duties, somebody has to be king. Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, 12 July 2022 From there, the teaser whizzes viewers through the Star Wars galaxy as evil Empire agents attempt to track down the last remnants of the Jedi order. Frank Pallotta, CNN, 9 Mar. 2022 But together, the ageless Timelord and the brave Londoner form an inseparable bond, outwitting alien werewolves and flirting their way through the galaxy. Ew Staff, EW.com, 14 Feb. 2022 Heesen’s 262-foot Project Cosmos, which is currently in build IRL and will mark the yard’s first superyacht built from aluminum, is depicted soaring through the galaxy with a couple of X-Wings by her side (above). Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 4 May 2021 Six months later, the Earth should be moving maximally against the Sun’s motion, decreasing the speed that the Earth moves through the galaxy’s dark matter. Ethan Siegel, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2021 Filmmaker Matt Shakman is no longer boldly going into the Star Trek galaxy. Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
Middle English galaxias, galaxie, borrowed from Late Latin galaxias, borrowed from Greek galaxías (probably originally conjoined with kýklos "wheel"), from galakt-, stem of gála "milk" (going back to Indo-European *glkt-, attested elsewhere only in Latin lact-, lac "milk," Armenian kat'n) + -ias, noun suffix, especially of natural phenomena
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Phrases Containing galaxy
Kids Definition
galaxy
noun
galaxy
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- world
- light-year
- way
- infinity
- long haul
- country mile
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- hairsbreadth
- striking distance
- hair
- hairbreadth
- shouting distance
- inch
- hop, skip, and jump
- stone's throw