galaxy

[ gal-uhk-see ]

noun

, plural gal·ax·ies.

1. Astronomy.
   1. a large system of stars held together by mutual gravitation and isolated from similar systems by vast regions of space.
   2. Often the galaxy or the Galaxy. the system of stars in which the earth and the sun are located; the Milky Way.
2. any large and brilliant or impressive assemblage of people or things:

   Guests at the party included a whole galaxy of opera stars.

Galaxy

¹

/ ˈɡæləksɪ /

noun

1. the Galaxy
   the spiral galaxy, approximately 100 000 light years in diameter, that contains the solar system about three fifths of the distance from its centre Also known asthe Milky Way System See also Magellanic Cloud

galaxy

²

/ ˈɡæləksɪ /

noun

1. any of a vast number of star systems held together by gravitational attraction in an asymmetric shape (an irregular galaxy ) or, more usually, in a symmetrical shape (a regular galaxy ), which is either a spiral or an ellipse Former namesisland universeextragalactic nebula galactic
2. a splendid gathering, esp one of famous or distinguished people

galaxy

/ găl′ək-sē /

1. Any of numerous large-scale collections of stars, gas, and dust that make up the visible universe. Galaxies are held together by the gravitational attraction of the material contained within them, and most are organized around a galactic nucleus into elliptical or spiral shapes, with a small percentage of galaxies classed as irregular in shape. A galaxy may range in diameter from some hundreds of light-years for the smallest dwarfs to hundreds of thousands of light-years for the largest ellipticals, and may contain from a few million to several trillion stars. Many galaxies are grouped into clusters, with the clusters themselves often grouped into larger superclusters.
2. See more at active galaxySee also elliptical galaxy
3. the Galaxy. The Milky Way.

galaxy

1. A large, self-contained mass of stars .

Notes

A common form for galaxies is a bright center with spiral arms radiating outward.

The sun belongs to the galaxy called the Milky Way .

The universe contains billions of galaxies.

Word History and Origins

Origin of galaxy¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English galaxie, galaxias, from Medieval Latin galaxia, galaxias, ultimately from Greek galaxías kýklos “the Milky Way”; cycle, galacto-

Word History and Origins

Origin of galaxy¹

C14 (in the sense: the Milky Way), from Medieval Latin galaxia, from Latin galaxias, from Greek, from gala milk; related to Latin lac milk

Example Sentences

So somehow a galaxy that spans tens of thousands of light-years is intimately related to what is, in effect, a microscopic dot at its center.

From Nautilus

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has hundreds of billions of stars.

From Science News For Students

On an even grander scale, it’s tempting to imagine life physically exchanging informational algorithms across an entire galaxy.

From Nautilus

In particular, our measurement of the current rate of expansion of the universe is about 10 percent lower than the value found using direct methods of measuring distances to nearby galaxies.

From Singularity Hub 

The filament looks magnetized throughout, not just near the galaxy clusters that are moving toward each other from either end.

From Quanta Magazine

Compare that to Guardians of the Galaxy which opened in Korea on July 31.

From The Daily Beast

Pratt, of course, just exploded with Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming lead in Jurassic World.

From The Daily Beast

He says he has yet to experience any negative feedback from the galaxy of Whovians.

From The Daily Beast

These black holes are a type known as quasars: extremely massive objects that emit more light than the rest of the galaxy.

From The Daily Beast

Xiaomi smartphones and Samsung Galaxy tablets captured photos of the warplanes in action before the shots were uploaded to Weibo.

From The Daily Beast

What are a few paltry, lumps of crystallised carbon compared to a galaxy of a million million suns?

From Project Gutenberg

At the southern end there is a large gallery, overshadowing the noisiest galaxy of Sunday infants we ever encountered.

From Project Gutenberg

To this galaxy of artistic talent I have yet to add Habeneck, who conducted the orchestra.

From Project Gutenberg

It was Etruria that produced not only Dante, but also a galaxy of great men such as no other part of Europe has presented.

From Project Gutenberg

Knowing this distance from experience, they were able to calculate the diameter of this galaxy.

From Project Gutenberg