galaxy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡæl.ək.si/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English galaxie,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Late Latin galaxias (“the Milky Way”),^[2][3][5][6] from Ancient Greek γαλαξίας (galaxías, “milky”),^[2][5][6] as in galaxías kúklos “the milky circle”,^[6][4] from gála (genitive gálaktos) “milk”,^[2][3][5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *g(a)lag- (“milk”).^[6] It is akin to Latin lac “milk”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Milky Way, the luminous band of stars across the night sky (1398).^[7][6][5] Barnhart dates it to about 1380.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively the word was applied from 1590 to a brilliant assembly of people, especially beautiful women or distinguished persons.^[7][6] The astronomical sense of a discrete system of stars, including the one containing the sun, emerged by 1848.^[7][5][6] Astronomers began to suspect in the 19th century that some spiral nebulae were distant galaxies like the Milky Way, but this was settled only in the 1920s.^[6] The English phrase Milky Way translates Latin via lactea.^[6]

Timeline

• 1398 – the Milky Way.^[7]
• 1590 – a brilliant assemblage of persons.^[7][6]
• 1839 – galactic.^[5]
• 1848 – any large independent system of stars.^[7][5][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of the very large systems of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity that are found throughout the universe.
2. (often capitalized) The Milky Way.
3. A brilliant or distinguished assembly of people or things.

Related words

• galactic
• galacto-
• lactose

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press