What is the ancient Greek word for milk from which the term 'galaxy' is derived?
Answer
gala
The word 'galaxy' used universally to describe vast stellar systems traces its linguistic lineage directly back to ancient Greek terminology concerning the Milky Way. Specifically, the Greek root word for milk is 'gala.' Because the celestial feature observed by early Europeans appeared milky or pale, this root was incorporated into the descriptive term for our own system. This foundational word, 'gala,' became the basis for the generalized astronomical classification 'galaxy' adopted later for all similar massive structures observed throughout the universe.
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