galaxie

Forms

galaxie f (plural galaxii)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French galaxie.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The neologism dictionaries compare the Greek word as well.^[6][7]

French borrowed it in 1557 from Latin galaxiās, which is from Ancient Greek γαλαξίας (galaxías), short for γαλαξίας κύκλος (galaxías kúklos, “the milky circle”), the Milky Way.^[8][1] The Greek word was first an adjective, formed from γάλα (gála, “milk”).^[8][1] Babiniotis says that the phrase is attributed to Anaxagoras, Parmenides and Democritus, and that the Latin form carried the word into the languages of Europe.^[9] In Latin it meant the Milky Way in Macrobius and Martianus Capella, while Pliny used it for a kind of stone.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is the Lexiconul tehnic român, the technical lexicon published from 1949, for the sense of any of the star systems of the universe comparable to the Milky Way.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word came into Romanian as an astronomical term, and in a narrower use it names the Milky Way, the galaxy of the solar system.^[3][7] The dictionaries of the 1950s still defined galaxies by comparison with the size of the Milky Way.^[12][5] DEX 2009 defines a galaxy by its parts, stars, cosmic dust and other bodies, held together by gravity.^[2]

The Greek name rests on a myth: Eratosthenes told that the Milky Way was formed from the milk spilled when Hera pushed away the infant Heracles from her breast.^[9]

Timeline

• 1557 – French galaxie, borrowed from Latin.^[8]
• 1949 – the first Romanian record, in the Lexiconul tehnic român.^[3]
• 1955–1957 – the DLRLC places the solar system in the galaxy of the Milky Way.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (astronomy) A galaxy: a vast system of stars, cosmic dust and other bodies of varied shape and size, held together by gravitation: Sistemul solar se află într-o galaxie.^[2][1]
2. The Milky Way, the galaxy that contains the solar system.^[3][7]

Related words

• Ancient Greek γάλα (gála)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 424
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 961
4. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
5. ^ a b Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. galaxie
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. galaxie
7. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. galaxie
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. galaxie
9. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 286
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. galaxias
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. galaxias
12. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 351