# Milky Way
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English Milky Wey, a calque of Latin Via Lactea (literally “milky road”), a calque of Ancient Greek γαλαξίας (galaxías), 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”). The reference to the galaxy is an extension of the second sense.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (US):(file)

### Proper noun

the Milky Way
* (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 […]
* (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

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)
Icelandic: vetrarbraut (is) f
Irish: Bealach na Bó Finne m, Claí Mór na Réaltaí m, An Láir Bhán f
Italian: 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)
Manchu: ᠰᡠᠩᡤᠠᡵᡳ ᠪᡳᡵᠠ (sunggari bira), ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ ᠪᡳᡵᠠ (abkai bira)
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 (roh-i kahkašon)
Thai: ทางช้างเผือก (th) (taang-cháang-pʉ̀ʉak)
Uyghur: سامان يولى (saman yoli)
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.

### References

* ↑ “Milky Way, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

### 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.