English▸ noun
(plural galaxies)
a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction. ▪ (the Galaxy) the galaxy of which the solar system is a part; the Milky Way.
▪ a large group of impressive people or things:
the four musicians have played with a galaxy of stars.
The Galaxy in which the earth is located is a disc-shaped spiral galaxy with approximately 100,000 million stars. The sun is located about two thirds of the way out from the centre.
– ORIGIN late Middle English (originally referring to the Milky Way): via Old French from medieval Latin galaxia, from Greek galaxias (kuklos) ‘milky (vault)’, from gala, galakt- ‘milk’.