milky way | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

880 entries found.

also sideway, 1550s, lateral space for passage or movement," from side (n.) + way (n.).

road between Rome and Capua, so called because it was begun (312 B.C.E.) by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus of the ancient gens of the Appii.

way-out (adj.)

1868, "far off," from way (adv.), short for away, + out. Sense of "original, bold," is jazz slang from 1940s, probably suggesting "far off" from what is conventional or expected.

galactic (adj.)

1839, "of the Milky Way, of the bright band of stars around the night sky," from Late Latin galacticus, from galaxias (see galaxy). In modern scientific sense "pertaining to (our) galaxy," from 1849. From 1844 as "of or pertaining to milk."

lactescence (n.)

"milky appearance," 1680s, from lactescent "becoming milky" (1660s), from Latin lactescentem (nominative lactescens), present participle of lactescere, inchoative of lactere "to be milky," from lac "milk" (from PIE root *g(a)lag- "milk").

galacto-

before vowels galact-, word-forming element meaning "milk, milky," from Greek gala (stem galakt-; see galaxy).

opalescence (n.)

"iridescence like that of an opal, a play of colors milky rather than brilliant," 1792; see opalescent + -ence. Perhaps via French opalescence.

chyle (n.)

"milky fluid formed during the process of digestion," 1540s, from Late Latin chylus "the extracted juice of a plant," from Greek khylos "juice" (of plants, animals, etc.), from stem of khein "to pour, gush forth," from PIE *ghus-mo-, from root *gheu- "to pour, pour a libation." Compare also chyme.

Minnesota

originally the name of the river, from Dakota (Siouan) mnisota, literally "cloudy water, milky water," from mni "river, stream" + sota "slightly clouded." As the name of a U.S. territory from 1849 (admitted as a state 1858). Related: Minnesotan (by 1867).

lacteal (adj.)

1650s, "pertaining to milk," earlier "milk-white" (1630s), from Latin lacteus "milky" (from lac "milk," from PIE root *g(a)lag- "milk") + -al (1). Other 17c. attempts at an adjective in English yielded lactary, lactaceous, lacteant, lacteous, lactescent, and, in a specialized sense ("milk-producing"), lactific.

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