Definition of Galaxy

1. Noun. A splendid assemblage (especially of famous people).


2. Noun. Tufted evergreen perennial herb having spikes of tiny white flowers and glossy green round to heart-shaped leaves that become coppery to maroon or purplish in fall.
Exact synonyms: Beetleweed, Coltsfoot, Galax, Galax Urceolata, Wandflower
Generic synonyms: Herb, Herbaceous Plant
Group relationships: Genus Galax

3. Noun. (astronomy) a collection of star systems; any of the billions of systems each having many stars and nebulae and dust. "`extragalactic nebula' is a former name for `galaxy'"
Exact synonyms: Extragalactic Nebula
Category relationships: Astronomy, Uranology
Generic synonyms: Accumulation, Aggregation, Assemblage, Collection
Specialized synonyms: Spiral Galaxy, Spiral Nebula, Great Attractor, Milky Way, Milky Way Galaxy, Milky Way System
Specialized synonyms: Magellanic Cloud
Member holonyms: Star
Group relationships: Cosmos, Creation, Existence, Macrocosm, Universe, World
Terms within: Cosmic Dust
Derivative terms: Galactic

Definition of Galaxy

1. n. The Milky Way; that luminous tract, or belt, which is seen at night stretching across the heavens, and which is composed of innumerable stars, so distant and blended as to be distinguishable only with the telescope. The term has recently been used for remote clusters of stars.

Definition of Galaxy

1. Proper noun. (astronomy dated) the Milky Way Galaxy, from when it was thought the Universe (our universe) had only one galaxy ¹

2. Noun. (rare) The Milky Way; the apparent band of concentrated stars which appears in the night sky over earth. (defdate from 14th c.) ¹

3. Noun. (galaxy) Any of the collections of many millions of stars, galactic dust, black holes, etc. existing as independent and coherent systems, of which there are billions in the known universe. (defdate from 19th c.) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Galaxy

1. a large system of celestial bodies [n -AXIES]

Medical Definition of Galaxy

1. Origin: F. Galaxie, L. Galaxias, fr. Gr. (sc. Circle), fr, milk; akin to L. Lac. CF. Lacteal. 1. The Milky Way; that luminous tract, or belt, which is seen at night stretching across the heavens, and which is composed of innumerable stars, so distant and blended as to be distinguishable only with the telescope. The term has recently been used for remote clusters of stars. 2. A splendid assemblage of persons or things. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Galaxy

galatriaose
galatriaoses
galatrox
galavant
galavanted
galavanting
galavants
galax
galaxes
galaxian
galaxies
galaxiid
galaxiids
galaxite
galaxites
galaxy (current term)
galaxylike
galaxywide
galbanum
galbanums
galbe
galbes
galbi
galbulus
galcon
galcons
gale
gale-opithecus
galea aponeurotica

Literary usage of Galaxy

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Annual of Scientific Discovery, Or, Year-book of Facts in Science and Art by David Ames Wells, Charles Robert Cross, John Trowbridge, Samuel Kneeland, George Bliss (1858)
"The author calls the Great Circle, which passes so as to divide the Milky Way pretty equally, the galaxy Circle. In the centre of this the Sun and Earth may ..."

2. A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art: Comprising the Definitions and by William Thomas Brande, George William Cox (1866)
"... in some parts hardly It is to be remarked that the great increase in the number of stars which is observed in the neighbourhood of the galaxy is ..."

3. An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord by Joseph Whitaker (1869)
"These regions are of particular interest for the study of the galaxy and of ... THE galaxy A cursory glance at the sky is sufficient to show that the ..."

4. The Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings Manual by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot (1882)
"Seen with the naked eye, the galaxy appears as an irregular, narrow, nebulous belt ... At such favorable moments I have seen the galaxy gleaming with light, ..."

5. Mark Twain: A Biography : the Personal and Literary Life of Samuel Langhorne by Albert Bigelow Paine (1912)
"... the Express represented only a portion of his literary activities during his Buffalo residence. The galaxy, an ambitious New York magazine of that day ..."

6. The Gentleman's Magazine (1882)
"A MINOR STAR IN THE SHAKESPEARIAN galaxy. IN a privately printed edition of the works of John Day, the dramatist, of which one hundred and fifty copies have ..."

7. Elements of General Science by Otis William Caldwell, William Lewis Eikenberry (1918)
"The Milky Way, or galaxy. Everyone has observed the great band of stars which extends across the entire sky and is known as the Milky Way (fig. ..."

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