Milky Way

[ mil-kee wey ]

nounAstronomy.
  1. the spiral galaxy containing our solar system: with the naked eye it appears as a faint luminous band stretching across the heavens, composed of approximately a trillion stars, most of which are too distant to be seen individually.

Origin of Milky Way

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, translation of Latin via lactea; cf. galaxy
  • Also called the gal·ax·y or the Gal·ax·y [thuh-gal-uhk-see] /ðə ˈgæl ək si/ .

Words Nearby Milky Way

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How to use Milky Way in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Milky Way

Milky Way

nounthe Milky Way
  1. the diffuse band of light stretching across the night sky that consists of millions of faint stars, nebulae, etc, within our Galaxy

  2. another name for the Galaxy

Origin of Milky Way

1
C14: translation of Latin via lactea

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for Milky Way

Milky Way

[ mĭl ]


  1. The spiral galaxy that contains our solar system. Made up of an estimated two hundred billion stars or more, it is seen from Earth as an irregular band of hazy light across the night sky. The solar system is located in one of the revolving spiral arms, about 50 light-years north of the galactic plane and some 27,700 light-years from the galaxy's center, which lies in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. It takes approximately 250 million years for the solar system to orbit the galactic center, which is believed to contain a massive black hole. The Milky Way measures about 100,000 light-years in diameter and is the second largest galaxy, after the Andromeda Galaxy, in the cluster known as the Local Group. See also spiral galaxy.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for Milky Way

Milky Way

The galaxy to which our sun belongs.

Notes for Milky Way

The Milky Way is also the swath of light in the night sky produced by the other stars in the galaxy.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.