sky
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: skī
ipa: /skaɪ/
homophone: Sky
homophone: Skye
rhymes: -aɪ
Forms: form: skies
form: skie
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English sky (“sky; cloud; mist”), also spelled ski, skie, [and other forms], from Old Norse ský (“cloud”), from Proto-Germanic *skiwją (“cloud; sky”), from *skiwô (“cloud; cloud cover, haze; sky”) (whence Old English sċēo (“cloud”) and Middle English skew (“air; sky; (rare) cloud”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover; to conceal, hide”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
The English word is cognate with Old English scēo (“cloud”), Old Saxon scio, skio, skeo (“light cloud cover”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål sky (“cloud”), Old Irish ceo (“mist, fog”), Irish ceo (“mist, fog”). It is also related to Old English scūa (“shadow, darkness”), Latin obscūrus (“dark, shadowy”), Sanskrit स्कुनाति (skunāti, “he covers”). See also hide, hose, house, hut, shoe.
Senses: examples: text: That year, a meteor fell from the sky.
text: For beſides the groues, / The skyes, the fountaines, euery region neare / Seeme all one mutuall cry. I neuer heard / So muſicall a diſcord, ſuch ſweete thunder.
ref: c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
text: His wearie ghoſt aſſoyld from fleſhly band, / Did not as others wont, directly fly / Vnto her reſt in Plutoes grieſly land, / Ne into ayre did vaniſh preſently, / Ne chaunged was into a ſtarre in sky: […]
ref: 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 13, page 40:
text: [I]f you doe not all ſhew like guilt twoo pences to mee, and I in the cleere skie of Fame, ore-ſhine you as much as the full moone doth the cindars of the element, (which ſhew like pinnes heads to her) beleeue not the worde of the noble: […]
ref: c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
english: [I]f you do not all appear like gilt twopences [i.e., counterfeit coins] next to me, and I, in the clear sky of fame, outshine you as much as the full moon outshines the cinders of the element [i.e., the stars] (which look like pinheads next to the moon), then don't believe me: […]
translation: [I]f you do not all appear like gilt twopences [i.e., counterfeit coins] next to me, and I, in the clear sky of fame, outshine you as much as the full moon outshines the cinders of the element [i.e., the stars] (which look like pinheads next to the moon), then don't believe me: […]
bold_translation_offsets: 105
108
text: [A] Nobler Sir, ne're liu'd / 'Twixt sky and ground.
ref: 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi], page 396, column 1:
text: I went with some of my relations to Court, to shew them his Maᵗⁱᵉˢ cabinet and closset of rarities; […] Here I saw […] amongst the clocks, one that shew'd the rising and setting of the Sun in yᵉ Zodiaq, the Sunn represented by a face and raies of gold, upon an azure skie, observing yᵉ diurnal and annual motion, rising and setting behind a landscape of hills, the work of our famous Fromantel; and severall other rarities.
ref: 1660 November 11 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 1 November 1660]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 327:
text: [T]he cunning Leach ordains / In Summer's Sultry Heats (for then it reigns) / To feed the Females, e're the Sun ariſe, / Or late at Night, when Stars adorn the Skies.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 103, lines 245–248:
text: Through the large Convex of the Azure Sky, / (For thither Nature caſts our common Eye) / Fierce Meteors ſhoot their arbitrary Light, / And Comets march with lawleſs Horror bright; […]
ref: 1700, Mat[thew] Prior, “Carmen Seculare, for the Year 1700. To the King.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], published 1709, →OCLC, page 164:
text: A length of Ocean and unbounded sky, / Which ſcarce the Sea-fowl in a year o'erfly […]
ref: 1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 120, lines 411–412:
text: There is madness about thee, and joy divine / In that song of thine; / Up with me, up with me, high and high, / To thy banqueting-place in the sky!
ref: 1807, William Wordsworth, “To a Sky-lark”, in Poems, in Two Volumes, volume I, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], →OCLC, page 81:
text: Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious. Glorious!
ref: 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 154–155:
text: So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
ref: 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 40:
text: Blue skies / Smiling at me / Nothing but blue skies / Do I see
ref: 1926, Irving Berlin, “Blue Skies”:
synonyms: word: blue
word: firmament
word: heaven
word: lift
word: welkin
glosses: The atmosphere above a given point, especially as visible from the surface of the Earth as the place where the sun, moon, stars, and clouds are seen.
examples: text: I lay back under a warm Texas sky.
text: We’re not sure how long the cloudy skies will last.
text: Yon ancient prude, whoſe wither'd features ſhow / She might be young ſome forty years ago, / […] / With boney and unkerchief'd neck defies / The rude inclemency of wintry ſkies, / And ſails with lappet-head and mincing airs / Duely at clink of bell, to morning pray'rs.
ref: 1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Truth”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1782, →OCLC, page 80:
text: All in a hot and copper sky / The bloody sun at noon, / Right up above the mast did stand, / No bigger than the moon.
ref: 1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published 1798, →OCLC, part II, stanza 7, page 13:
text: [T]he stars / Eastward were sparkling clear, and in the west / The orange sky of evening died away.
ref: 1799–1805 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book I. Introduction.—Childhood and School-time.”, in The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet’s Mind; an Autobiographical Poem, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 21:
text: With that sharp sound the white dawn's creeping beams, / Stol'n to my brain, dissolved the mystery / Of folded sleep. The captain of my dreams / Ruled in the eastern sky.
ref: 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “A Dream of Fair Women”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza LXVII, page 201:
text: But now shine on, and what care I, / Who in this stormy gulf have found a pearl / The counterclaim of space and hollow sky, […]
ref: 1855, Alfred Tennyson, “Maud”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza 5, pages 58–59:
text: She wakened in sharp panic, bewildered by the grotesquerie of some half-remembered dream in contrast with the harshness of inclement fact, drowsily realizing that since she had fallen asleep it had come on to rain smartly out of a shrouded sky.
ref: 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter II (Burglary), page 378, column 1:
glosses: With a descriptive word: the part of the sky which can be seen from a specific place or at a specific time; its climate, condition, etc.
examples: text: This mortal has incurred the wrath of the skies.
text: Now am I dead, now am I fled, my ſoule is in the sky.
ref: c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
text: Sweet Queen of Parlie, Daughter of the Sphære, / So maist thou be tranſlated to the skies, / And give reſounding grace to all Heav'ns Harmonies.
ref: 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC, page 9:
english: Comus
translation: Comus
text: Him the Almighty Power / Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie / With hideous ruine and combuſtion down / To bottomleſs perdition, there to dwell / In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire, / Who durſt defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 44-49:
text: The Gods to live in Woods have left the Skies.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Second Pastoral. Or, Alexis.”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 8, line 86:
text: Mars ſmil'd and bow'd, the Cyprian Deity / Turn'd to the glorious Ruler of the Sky: / And Thou, She ſmiling ſaid, Great God of Days / And Verſe; behond my Deed; and ſing my Praiſe.
ref: 1709, Mat[thew] Prior, “Henry and Emma, […]”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 271:
text: The gazing Gods lean forward from the Sky: / To whom, while eager on the Chace they look, / The Sire of Mortals and Immortals ſpoke.
ref: 1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book XXII”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume VI, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 13, lines 218–220:
text: By the just vengeance of incensed skies, / Poor bishop Judas late repenting dies.
ref: 1731, Jonathan Swift, “Judas”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VIII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 113:
glosses: Usually preceded by the: the abode of God or the gods, angels, the souls of deceased people, etc.; heaven; also, powers emanating from heaven.
examples: text: But yet methinks, thoſe knots of Sky, do not / So well with the dead colour of her Face.
ref: 1667 March 12 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), John Dryden, Secret-Love, or The Maiden-Queen: […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], published 1668, →OCLC, Act III, page 26:
text: [W]hy, / Brother, I have beſpoke Dinner, and engag'd / Mr. Rake-hell, the little ſmart Gentleman I have / Often promis'd thee to make thee acquainted / Withal, to bring a whole Bevy of Damſels / In Sky, and Pink, and Flame-colour'd Taffeta's.
ref: 1668, George Etherege, She Wou’d if She Cou’d, a Comedy. […], London: […] [John Macocke] for H[enry] Herringman, […], →OCLC, Act III, scene ii, page 39:
glosses: Ellipsis of sky blue.
topics: mathematics
sciences
synonyms: celestial sphere
qualifier: theoretical physics
glosses: The set of all lightlike lines (or directions) passing through a given point in space-time.
glosses: In an art gallery: the upper rows of pictures that cannot easily be seen; also, the place where such pictures are hung.
glosses: A cloud.
Derived terms: aim for the sky
Big Sky Country
big-sky thinking
blow sky high
blue-sky
blue sky
blue sky law
blue-sky thinking
deep-sky
ensky
eye in the sky
great bit bucket in the sky
ice sky
is the sky blue
Kingdom in the Sky
liquid sky
mackerel sky
mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails
mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails
Nebra sky disc
night-sky
night sky
no-sky line
one-line sky
pie-in-the-sky
pie in the sky
praise to the skies
reach for the sky
skeet
skier
sky advertising
skyaking
sky ball
sky bar
sky beer
skybike
sky-blue pink
sky blue pink
sky-blue
sky blue
Sky Blue
skyboard
skybook
sky-born
skyborne
skybound
skybox
skybridge
sky burial
skycam
skycap
sky-clad
skyclad
skycloth
skycraft
skycrane
skycycle
sky daddy
skydip
skydive
sky-diving
sky diving
skydome
skyey
sky fairy
Sky Fairy
skyfaring
skyfarm
skyfarming
skyfish
sky-flood
skyflower
sky-flung
skyful
sky garden
skygazer
skygazing
sky girl
skyglow
skygod
sky-high
skyhook
skyish
sky island
skyjack
sky juice
Skylab
skylab
skyland
sky lantern
skylark
skyless
skylift
skylight
skylike
skyline
skyling
skylit
sky lounge
skyly
skymaiden
skyman
sky map
skymap
skymapping
sky marshal
skyness
skypan
sky parlor
sky parlour
sky pilot
skyquake
sky rat
skyrise
skyrocket
skyrunning
skysail
skyscape
sky scooter
skyscraper
skyscraping
skyship
skysill
skyspace
skysurfer
skysurfing
Skysweeper
skytime
sky waitress
skywalk
skywalker
skyward
skywards
skywatch
skywatcher
skywave
skyway
skyworthy
skywrite
skywriter
skywriting
streets in the sky
take to the sky
the sky fell in
the sky is the limit
the sky's the limit
the sky will fall on your head
undersky
watersky
water sky