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 ” ) . Reference to the galaxy is by extension of sense 2.
the Milky Way
( astronomy ) The Milky Way Galaxy , the galaxy in which Earth is located. [from mid 19th c.][ 1]
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 .
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
Sundanese: catang bobo
Swedish: Vintergatan (sv) c
Tagalog: Daang Magatas , Daang Malagatas , Ariwanas , Pulong-Bituin
Tajik: Роҳи Каҳкашон ( Roh-i 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: سامانيولى سىستىمېسى ( samanyoli sistimësi )
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 )
Yankunytjatjara: tjukal
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 ( roh-i kahkašon )
Thai: ทางช้างเผือก (th) ( taang-cháang-pʉ̀ʉak )
Uyghur: سامان يولى ( saman yoli )
Welsh: Llwybr Llaethog m
Zhuang: dahmbwn
Translations to be checked