Definition of "gala"

gala¹

/ˈɡɑːlə/

adjective
not comparable
1. Celebratory; festive.
noun
plural galas
1. (uncountable) Pomp, show, or festivity.
2. A competition
3. (countable) A showy and festive party.
4. A red-skinned variety of eating apple.

gala²

noun
plural galas
1. (historical) A member of an androgynous class of priests of the Sumerian goddess Inanna.
  Quotations
  (6) Some galas/kalûs are mentioned in Pre-Sargonic and Old Babylonian texts in connection with classes of women, maids, and ḫarimtu-women. / (7) The gala is sometimes mentioned in the same context with other functionaries [...]
  2008, Uri Gabbay, The Akkadian word for "third gender" / the kalû (gala) once again, in Proceedings of the 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Held at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, July 18-22, 2005 (edited by Robert D. Biggs, Jennie Myers, Martha Tobi Roth), page 50