Milky Way

See also: Milky-Way

English

Etymology

From Middle English Milky Wey, a calque of Latin Via Lactea (literally “milky road”), referring to its appearance as a pale band of stars across the sky. Compare also Old English Īringes weġ (“Milky Way”), Old Norse Mjólkrhringr (“Milky Way”, literally “milk-ring, milk-circle”). Reference to the galaxy is by extension of sense 2.

Proper noun

the Milky Way

1. (astronomy) The Milky Way Galaxy, the galaxy in which Earth is located. [from mid 19th c.]

   Synonyms: Milky Way Galaxy, Galaxy, Local Galaxy

   Meronyms: Galactic Center, Sagittarius A*

   • 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Solitude”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 144:

     This whole earth which we inhabit is but a point in space. How far apart, think you, dwell the two most distant inhabitants of yonder star, the breadth of whose disk cannot be appreciated by our instruments? Why should I feel lonely? is not our planet in the Milky Way?

   • 2021, William Sheehan, Jim Bell, chapter 13, in Discovering Mars, page 294:

     From a cosmic perspective, even our host galaxy, the Milky Way, is not particularly special […]

2. (astronomy) A broad band of diffuse white light, visible in the night sky; our view of the dense portions of the Milky Way Galaxy from inside the galaxy. [from late 14th c.]

   Synonyms: Silvery River, Great Sky River

   • 1869, Mark Twain, chapter XXXII, in The Innocents Abroad, page 348:

     […] a random shower of amber lights—a spray of golden sparks that […] glinted softly upon the sea of dark foliage like the pallid stars of the milky-way.

Derived terms

• Milky Way Galaxy

Translations

galaxy

• Afrikaans: Melkweg (af)
• Albanian: Rruga e Qumështit, Kashta e Kumtrit, hyjplimja
• Arabic: دَرْب اَلتَّبَّانَة m (darb at-tabbāna)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܐܘܪܚܐ ܕܓܢܒܐ m (urkha d-gannāve), ܫܒܝܠ ܬܒܢܐ m (švīl tevnā)

• Armenian: Ծիր Կաթին (Cir Katʻin)
• Asturian: Camín de Santiago m
• Azerbaijani: Ağyol, Süd Yolu
• Bashkir: Ҡош Юлы (Qoş Yulı)
• Basque: Esne Bidea
• Belarusian: Мле́чны Шлях m (Mljéčny Šljax)
• Bengali: আকাশগঙ্গা (bn) (akaśgoṅga)
• Bulgarian: Мле́чен път m (Mléčen pǎt)
• Burmese: နဂါးငွေ့တန်း ဂယ်လက်ဆီ (na.ga:ngwe.tan: gailakhci), နဂါးငွေ့ (na.ga:ngwe.)
• Catalan: la Via Làctia f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 銀河系／银河系 (zh) (Yínhéxì)

• Chukchi: Чыгэйвээм (Čygėjvėėm)
• Chuvash: Хуркайӑк ҫулӗ (Hurk̬ajăk śulĕ)
• Coptic: ⲡⲓⲙⲱⲓⲧ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ⲡⲓⲧⲱϩ m (pimōit ǹte pitōh)
• Cornish: Hyns Sen Jamys f
• Crimean Tatar: Kâbe Yolu
• Czech: Mléčná dráha (cs) f
• Danish: Mælkevejen
• Dutch: Melkweg (nl)
• Dzongkha: རྒིལ་འག་སྨེ་ཡེར (rgil 'ag sme yer)
• Esperanto: Lakta Vojo (eo)
• Estonian: Linnutee
• Faroese: vetrarbreyt f, mjólkarvegur m, stjørnubreyt f
• Finnish: Linnunrata (fi)
• French: Voie lactée (fr) f
• Galician: Vía Láctea (gl) f
• Georgian: ირმის ნახტომი (irmis naxṭomi), რძიანი გზა (rʒiani gza), ხარის ნავალი (xaris navali), დათვისფეხა (datvispexa)
• German: Milchstraße (de) f
• Greek: Γαλαξίας (el) m (Galaxías)
• Gujarati: દૂધ ગંગા (dūdha gaṅgā), આકાશગંગા f (ākāśgaṅgā)
• Hebrew: שביל החלב (he) m (sh'víl ha'khaláv)
• Hiligaynon: Balatas
• Hindi: आकाशगंगा (hi) f (ākāśgaṅgā), छायापथ (hi) m (chāyāpath), क्षीरपथ m (kṣīrpath), कहकशाँ (hi) m (kahakśā̃)
• Hungarian: Tejútrendszer (hu), Tejút (hu)
• Icelandic: vetrarbraut (is) f, mjólkurslæða f
• Ido: laktovoyo (io)
• Indonesian: Bima Sakti
• Ingrian: Tähtirata
• Irish: Bealach na Bó Finne m, Claí Mór na Réaltaí m, An Láir Bhán f
• Italian: Via Lattea f
• Japanese: 銀河系 (ja) (ぎんがけい, gingakei), 天の川銀河 (ja) (あまのがわぎんが, amanogawa ginga), 天河 (ja) (てんが, Tenga)
• Javanese: ꦧꦶꦩꦱꦼꦏ꧀ꦠꦶ (bimasekti)
• Kalmyk: Оһтрһун уйдл (Oğtrğun uydl), Теңгрин уйдл (Teñgrin uydl)
• Kashubian: Mlecznô Droga f
• Kazakh: Құс жолы (Qūs joly)
• Khmer: កញ្ចុំផ្កាយជើងភ្នាយ (kɑɑñcompkaaycəəngphniəy)
• Korean: 우리 은하 (uri eunha), 은하(銀河) (ko) (eunha), 은하수(銀河水) (ko) (eunhasu)
• Kyrgyz: Кой Жолу (Koy Jolu), Саманчы Жол (Samancı Jol), Куш Жолу (Kuş Jolu)
• Lao: ທາງຊ້າງເຜືອກ (lo) (thāng sāng phư̄ak)
• Latin: Via Lactea f
• Latvian: Piena Ceļš m
• Lezgi: Карванд Рехъ (Karvand Req)
• Lithuanian: Paukščių Takas
• Lü: ᦑᦱᧂᦋᦱᧂᧉ (taangtsaang²)
• Luxembourgish: Mëllechstrooss f
• Macedonian: Мле́чен Пат m (Mléčen Pat), Ку́мова Сла́ма f (Kúmova Sláma)
• Malagasy: làlana mandronono
• Malay: Bimasakti, Bintang Temabur (archaic)
• Manx: Raad Mooar Ree Gorree m
• Maori: Te Mangōroa, te Ikaroa, Roiata, TeIka-whenua-o-te-rangi, Paeroa-o-Whānui, Te Ika-o-te-rangi, Te Tāhū-o-te-rangi
• Marathi: आकाशगंगा f (ākāśgaṅgā)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Тэнгэрийн заадас галактик (Tengeriin zaadas galaktik)

• Nandi: poit’-ap-kechei
• Navajo: yikáísdáhí
• Norman: Les C'mîns d'St. Jacques m pl (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Melkeveien m

  Nynorsk: Mjølkevegen m

• Occitan: please add this translation if you can
• Ossetian: Ӕрфӕныфӕд (Ærfænyfæd)
• Persian: راه شیری (râh-e širi), کهکشان (fa) (kahkašân) (archaic)
• Polish: Droga Mleczna (pl) f
• Portuguese: Via Láctea (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਆਕਾਸ਼ਗੰਗਾ f (ākāśagaṅgā)
• Romanian: Calea Lactee f (definite)
• Russian: Мле́чный Путь (ru) m (Mléčnyj Putʹ)
• Sanskrit: see Thesaurus:आकाशगङ्गा
• Scottish Gaelic: Sgrìob Chlann Uisnich f, Slighe Chlann Uisnich f, Bogha Chlann Uisnich, Breac a' Mhuilinn m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Млечни Пут m, Млијечни Пут m

  Roman: Mlečni Put m, Mliječni Put m

• Shona: muzvcazi
• Silesian: Mlyczno Cesta f
• Sinhalese: ක්‍ෂීරපථය (kṣīrapathaya)
• Slovak: Mliečna cesta f
• Slovene: Rimska cesta (sl) f
• Southern Altai: Кардыҥ јолу (Kardïŋ ǰolu)
• Spanish: Vía Láctea (es) f
• Swedish: Vintergatan (sv) c
• Tagalog: Daang Magatas, Daang Malagatas, Ariwanas, Pulong-Bituin
• Tajik: Роҳи Каҳкашон (Rohi Kahkašon)
• Tatar: Каз Юлы (Qaz Yulı)
• Telugu: నక్షత్రవీధి (te) (nakṣatravīdhi)
• Thai: ทางช้างเผือก (th) (taang cháang pèuak)
• Tibetan: དགུ་ཚིགས་སྐྱ་མོ (dgu tshigs skya mo, literally “pale galaxy”), གཟའི་མུ་ཁྱུད (gza'i mu khyud, literally “fence of the planet”)
• Turkish: Samanyolu (tr)
• Tuvan: Дээр оруу (Deer oruu)
• Ukrainian: Чума́цький Шлях m (Čumácʹkyj Šljax)
• Uyghur: سامان يولى (saman yoli)
• Uzbek: Somon yoʻli
• Vietnamese: Ngân Hà (vi) (銀河)
• Walloon: Voye Sint-Djåke (wa) f
• Welsh: Llwybr Llaethog m, Bwa'r Gwynt m (archaic)
• Yakut: Халлаан Сиигэ (Qallaan Siige)

light in night sky

• Armenian: Ծիր Կաթին (Cir Katʻin), Հարդագողի ճանապարհ (Hardagoġi čanaparh)
• Bashkir: Ҡош Юлы (Qoş Yulı)
• Bouyei: dahhaaic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 銀河／银河 (zh) (Yínhé)

• Classical Nahuatl: citlālīcue
• Cornish: Hyns Sen Jamys f
• Crimean Tatar: Kâbe Yolu
• Czech: Mléčná dráha (cs) f
• Dzongkha: སྐར་ཚོགས (skar tshogs)
• Egyptian: (msqt-sḥdw f)
• Estonian: Linnutee
• Finnish: linnunrata
• French: voie lactée (fr) f
• Galician: Vía Láctea (gl) f, camiño real m, Camiño de Santiago m (literally “path of Saint James”)
• German: Milchstraße (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: γαλαξίας m (galaxías)

• Hebrew: שביל החלב (he) m (sh'víl ha'khaláv)
• Hindi: आकाशगंगा (hi) f (ākāśgaṅgā), नक्षत्रवीथि (hi) f (nakṣatravīthi), छायापथ (hi) m (chāyāpath), आकाश जनेऊ m (ākāś janeū), क्षीरपथ m (kṣīrpath), कहकशाँ (hi) m (kahakśā̃)
• Icelandic: vetrarbraut (is) f
• Irish: Bealach na Bó Finne m, Claí Mór na Réaltaí m, An Láir Bhán f
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} la Via Lattea f
• Japanese: 天の川 (ja) (あまのがわ, amanogawa)
• Karok: yumaaréempaah
• Khmer: គន្លងដំរីស (kɔɔnlɔɔngdɑmriih)
• Lakota: wanáǧi tȟačháŋku
• Latin: Via Lactea f
• Latvian: Piena Ceļš m
• Macedonian: Мле́чен Пат m (Mléčen Pat), Ку́мова Сла́ма f (Kúmova Sláma)
• Manx: Raad Mooar Ree Gorree m
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: Кайыккомбо корно (Kajykkombo korno)

• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Тэнгэрийн заадас (Tengeriin zaadas), Сүүн зам (Süün zam)

• Navajo: Yikáísdáhí
• Norman: Les C'mîns d'St. Jacques m pl (literally “the paths of Saint James”) (Jersey)
• Ojibwe: manidoo-miikana
• Old English: Īringes weġ m
• Old Tupi: tapi'irapé (literally “tapir's way”)
• Portuguese: Via Láctea (pt) f, Caminho de Santiago m (literally “path of Saint James”)
• Rapa Nui: Go'e
• Romanian: Calea Lactee f, Calea Laptelui f, Drumul Robilor n
• Russian: Мле́чный Путь (ru) m (Mléčnyj Putʹ)
• Sanskrit: आकाशगङ्गा (sa) f (ākāśagaṅgā)
• Scottish Gaelic: Sgrìob Chlann Uisnich f, Slighe Chlann Uisnich f, Breac a' Mhuilinn m
• Spanish: Camino de Santiago m, Vía Láctea (es) f
• Swedish: Vintergatan (sv) c
• Tajik: роҳи каҳкашон (rohi kahkašon)
• Thai: ทางช้างเผือก (th) (taang-cháang-pʉ̀ʉak)
• Welsh: Llwybr Llaethog m
• Zhuang: dahmbwn

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} laktovojo
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} Bimasakti (id), ^{(please verify)} Bima Sakti
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} Via Lactee
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} orbis lacteus f
• Tupinambá: ^{(please verify)} Tapi'irapé (literally “tapir's way”)
• isiZulu: umZilafasimbe (zu)

Further reading

• Milky Way on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “Milky Way”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Milky Way”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.