galaxy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  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
    Galax urceolata; wandflower; galax; beetleweed; coltsfoot.
  3. noun (astronomy) a collection of star systems; any of the billions of systems each having many stars and nebulae and dust
    extragalactic nebula.
    • `extragalactic nebula' is a former name for `galaxy'

WordNet

Gal"ax*y noun
Etymology
F. galaxie, L. galaxias, fr. Gr. (sc. circle), fr. , , milk; akin to L. lac. CF. Lacteal.
Wordforms
plural Galaxies
Definitions
  1. (Astron.) 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. Nichol.
  2. A splendid assemblage of persons or things.

Webster 1913