galatea

¹

[ gal-uh-tee-uh ]

noun

1. a strong cotton fabric, plain or striped, for clothing.

Galatea

²

[ gal-uh-tee-uh ]

noun

, Classical Mythology.

1. a sea nymph who was the lover of Acis.
2. a maiden who had been an ivory statue carved by Pygmalion and brought to life by Aphrodite in response to his prayers.

galatea

¹

/ ˌɡæləˈtɪə /

noun

1. a strong twill-weave cotton fabric, striped or plain, for clothing

Galatea

²

/ ˌɡæləˈtɪə /

noun

1. Greek myth a statue of a maiden brought to life by Aphrodite in response to the prayers of the sculptor Pygmalion, who had fallen in love with his creation

Word History and Origins

Origin of galatea¹

First recorded in 1880–85; named after the 19th-century British man-of-war H.M.S. Galatea; the fabric was once used for children's sailor suits

Word History and Origins

Origin of galatea¹

C19: named after the man-of-war HMS Galatea (the fabric was at one time in demand for children's sailor suits)

Example Sentences

That's the question that Gözden Torun at the Galatea Lab, in a collaboration with Tokyo Tech scientists, aimed to answer in her thesis work when she made the discovery that may one day turn windows into single material light-harvesting and sensing devices.

From Science Daily

"Tellurium being semiconducting, based on this finding we wondered if it would be possible to write durable patterns on the tellurite glass surface that could reliably induce electricity when exposed to light, and the answer is yes," explains Yves Bellouard who runs EPFL's Galatea Laboratory.

From Science Daily

From the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea to the medieval Jewish legend of the golem through Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and beyond, we have grappled with those important questions, and also frightened and titillated ourselves with tales of our inventions coming to life.

From New York Times

A statuesque queen breathes life into the creation — the Henry Higgins of her own Eliza Doolittle, the Pygmalion of her Galatea.

From Los Angeles Times

And Ysabelle Cheung’s “Galatea” imagines a robot programmed for companionship who is quietly connected to a world her owner knows nothing about.

From Slate