Galilean

¹ American  

[gal-uh-ley-uhn, -lee-] / ˌgæl əˈleɪ ən, -ˈli- /

adjective

1. of or relating to Galileo, his theories, or his discoveries.

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Galilean ² American  

[gal-uh-lee-uhn] / ˌgæl əˈli ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Galilee.

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Galilee.

2. a Christian.

3. the Galilean, Jesus.

Galilean ¹ British  

/ ˌɡælɪˈliːən /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Galilee

2. 1. an epithet of Jesus Christ

   2. (often plural) a Christian

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adjective

1. of Galilee

Galilean ² British  

/ ˌɡælɪˈleɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Galileo

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Etymology

Origin of Galilean¹

First recorded in 1720–30; Galile(o) + -an

Origin of Galilean²

1605–15; < Latin Galilae(a) Galilee + -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Galilean

This means the Galilean moons may have inherited organic material from two sources: the wider solar nebula and local chemical activity within Jupiter's own disk billions of years ago.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 1, 2026

By looking through a telescope, you’ll be able to see Jupiter’s banded atmosphere and four Galilean moons, which may appear as tiny dots lined up around the planet, National Geographic says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2024

Arnold doesn’t feel comfortable using that term, preferring to say it depicts Christ as a person of color, probably Middle Eastern, which she says would make sense, given where the Galilean Jewish preacher was from.

From Seattle Times ● May 13, 2023

The extended tour may go a long way in determining whether all of the Galilean moons were born with the same amount of ice.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 24, 2023

Voyager 1 obtained excellent imagery of the other three Galilean satellites of Jupiter.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan