Galilean

¹ American  

[gal-uh-ley-uhn, -lee-] / ˌgæl əˈleɪ ən, -ˈli- /

adjective

1. of or relating to Galileo, his theories, or his discoveries.

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Galilean ² American  

[gal-uh-lee-uhn] / ˌgæl əˈli ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Galilee.

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Galilee.

2. a Christian.

3. the Galilean, Jesus.

Galilean ¹ British  

/ ˌɡælɪˈliːən /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Galilee

2. 1. an epithet of Jesus Christ

   2. (often plural) a Christian

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adjective

1. of Galilee

Galilean ² British  

/ ˌɡælɪˈleɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Galileo

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Etymology

Origin of Galilean¹

First recorded in 1720–30; Galile(o) + -an

Origin of Galilean²

1605–15; < Latin Galilae(a) Galilee + -an

Example Sentences

This means the Galilean moons may have inherited organic material from two sources: the wider solar nebula and local chemical activity within Jupiter's own disk billions of years ago.

From Science Daily • Mar. 1, 2026

By looking through a telescope, you’ll be able to see Jupiter’s banded atmosphere and four Galilean moons, which may appear as tiny dots lined up around the planet, National Geographic says.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2024

Arnold doesn’t feel comfortable using that term, preferring to say it depicts Christ as a person of color, probably Middle Eastern, which she says would make sense, given where the Galilean Jewish preacher was from.

From Seattle Times • May 13, 2023

For the Galilean moons, which presumably formed around the same time as Jupiter itself, the planet would have blazed like a star in the sky and overpowered the light emanating from the farther-off sun.

From Scientific American • Apr. 24, 2023

The moons were named by him the ‘Medician stars’, in honour of Cosimo, but are known to astronomers today as the Galilean satellites of Jupiter.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin