Etymologically
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galaxias

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɡaˈɫak.si.aːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ɡaˈlak.si.as][1]

Forms

galaxiās m (genitive galaxiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek γαλαξίας (galaxías, “milky”), from γάλα (gála, “milk”).[2][1][3] In Greek the Milky Way was the γαλαξίας (galaxías) κύκλος (kúklos), the “milky circle”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder names a stone galaxias, which some call galactites.[2][5] Köbler dates Pliny 23/24–79 AD, and for the Milky Way names Martial as the first source.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Pliny it was an unknown milk-white stone, the milkstone.[2][6] As the name of the Milky Way it is found in Macrobius and Martianus Capella; the native Latin terms were via lactea and circulus lacteus.[7][6][4]

Medieval British writers used it of the Milky Way, of heaven, and figuratively of high places and of a person of high rank.[8] English galaxy came from French or Late Latin in the late 14th century, first of the Milky Way.[4]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a stone.[2][3]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of the Milky Way.[3]
  • 1st half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it of the Milky Way.[7][3]
  • late 14th century – English galaxy is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The Milky Way, a galaxy.[7][1]
  2. A milk-white precious stone, milkstone.[2][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Heaven; a person of high rank.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press