heaven
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: Christianity
Islam
lifestyle
religion
Etymology: From a wide variety of Middle English forms including hevene, heven, hevin, and hewin (“heaven, sky”), from Old English heofon, heofone (“heaven, sky”), from Proto-West Germanic *hebn (“heaven, sky”), of uncertain origin.
Cognate with Scots heiven, hewin (“heaven, sky”), Middle Dutch heven (“sky, heaven”), Low German Heven (“heaven, sky”), and possibly the rare Icelandic and Old Norse hifinn (“heaven, sky”), which are all probably dissimilated forms of the Germanic root which appears in Old Norse himinn (“heaven, sky”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (himins, “heaven, sky”), Old Swedish himin, Old Danish himæn and probably also (in another variant form) Old Saxon himil, Old Dutch himil (modern Dutch hemel), and Old High German himil (German Himmel).
Accepting these as cognates, some scholars propose a further derivation from Proto-Germanic *himinaz (“cover, cloud cover, firmament, sky, heaven”).
Inflected forms:
form: heavens
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: heav'n
pos: noun
tags: alternative
poetic
Senses:
gloss: The sky, specifically:
pos: noun
tags: countable
dated
plural-normally
poetic
uncountable
examples: All that is vnder the heauen.
The ordinaunce...made such a great noyse and thunderyng that it seemed the heaven would have fallen.
In ascending orderly vpwardes...The first is the Spheare of the Moone...The seuenth the Spheare of Saturne, The eight the Spheare of the fixed Starres, commonly called the firmament. The ninth is called the second moueable or Christall heauen, The tenth is called the first moueable, and the eleuenth is called the Emperiall heauen, where God and his Angels are said to dwell.
What obscured light the heauens did grant.
The Heauens...are carried in 24 houres from East to West.
God framed alſo the Stars and conſtellations; ſome fixed for the Ornament of Heaven and might, very many in number.
The moon's path lies in that belt of the heavens known as the zodiac.
In an infinite...universe the stars would collectively outshine the Sun and flood the heavens with light far more intense than is observed.
Above is Heaven, Below are Suzhou and Hangzhou
gloss: The sky, specifically:
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
examples: Everie...Countrie, by the nature of the place, the climate of the Heaven, and the influence of the starres hath certaine vertues.
The qualitie of mercie is not ſtraind,
it droppeth as the gentle raine from heauen
vpon the place beneath
Fellow-believers...fed the birds of heaven with the carcases of pious and reverend Church-men.
gloss: The sky, specifically:
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
examples: Euery man cannot, with Archimedes, make a heauen of brasse.
gloss: The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
pos: noun
tags: capitalized
countable
uncountable
usually
examples: And there was a battel in heauen. Michael & his Angels foght againſt the dragon, and the dragon foght & his Angels. But they preuailed not, nether was their place founde anie more in heauen.
Conſider firſt that the excommunicated Prelate ſaith... Kings are not immediatly from God, as by any ſpeciall Ordinance ſent from Heaven by the miniſtery of Angels and Prophets, there were but ſome few ſuch, as Moſes, Saul, David, etc.
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.
Christ's coming from the heavens has entered into the life of humanity as the Founder of the world to come.
gloss: The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
pos: noun
tags: broadly
capitalized
countable
often
uncountable
examples: With Ioue in heauen, or some where else.
As he [Muhammad] was returning, in the fourth Heaven, Moses advised him to goe back to God.
Like the Buddhas, they [the Jains] believe that there is a plurality of heavens and hells.
The heaven of Siva is in the midst of the eternal snows and glaciers of Keilás, one of the highest and deepest groups of the stupendous summits of Hémaláya.
To grasp the Chinese's notion of Heaven, we must look at the contexts in which tian is used... In the Book of Odes (Shi jing 詩經), which includes poems dated between the eleventh and seventh centuries BCE, tian is a place where the Heavenly Thearch resides.
gloss: The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
pos: noun
tags: broadly
capitalized
countable
uncountable
usually
examples: […]he cannot thriue,
Vnlesse her prayers, whom heauen delights to heare
And loues to grant, repreeue him from the wrath
Of greatest Iustice.
After that thou shalt haue knowen that the heauens doe rule.
[…]The will
And high permission of all-ruling Heaven.
Heaven commands thine arm
To lift the sure-destroying sword!
...executing the just judgment of offended Heaven upon cattle-houghers, traitors, and assassins.
There's nothing we can do but pray to heaven for good luck.
Cosmologists regarded Heaven as a force—composed of qi 氣, which was divided into yin 陰 and yang 陽 aspects—that kept the cosmos moving.
gloss: The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: I wonder what your idea of heaven would be—A beautiful vacuum filled with wealthy monogamists, all powerful and members of the best families drinking themselves to death. And hell would probably be an ugly vacuum full of poor polygamists unable to obtain booze... To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely houses in the town; one where I would have my wife and children and be monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors...
gloss: The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Teache the people to gett heuen with fastynge.
...what I speake
My body shall make good vpon this earth,
Or my diuine soule answer it in heauen.
Wee haue a great high Priest, that is passed into the heauens.
gloss: The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:
pos: noun
tags: broadly
capitalized
countable
often
uncountable
examples: The belief in ascending to Heaven after death became widespread in the Han dynasty.
gloss: Any paradise; any blissful place or experience.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
countable
uncountable
examples: Ile follow thee and make a heauen of hell.
England, that was formerly the heaven, would be now the hell for women.
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
Such a shop as that...would be quite a heaven upon earth to me.
They thought strikes and hunger marches the quintessence of politics and Soviet Russia heaven on earth.
While eating my snack I decided to walk around the house and I saw the hallways change into beautiful valleys and oceans. The television screen appeared on the wall. It was so beautiful that I thought I was in heaven.
gloss: A state of bliss; a peaceful ecstasy.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
countable
uncountable
examples: Husbandes are in heauen...whose wiues scold not.
Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,
But to be young was very heaven!
He would just stare at me and say, “You are beautiful, you are so beautiful.” I was in heaven hearing this.
We're in heaven.
She was in heaven — she'd never seen so many stars gathered in one place. She already had her eye on Charlie Dollar. Oh yes, Charlie Dollar might be ancient, but he was still raging hot in a Jack Nicholson kind of way.
“Because she was modest and beautiful and he thought he was in heaven when she was around?” “Yes, that's what he said.”
I'd turn it up to 10 and it sounded all distorted and I remember feeling like I was in heaven!
gloss: Similarly blissful afterlives, places, or states for particular people, animals, or objects.
pos: noun
tags: countable
informal
uncountable
examples: Perhaps it has gone to the dog heaven, and is wagging somewhere in glory.
His pet name for Easthampton is ‘Goose-heaven’, and he harps upon the idea eternally.
One gray beard who found the gates closed shinned up the fifteen foot fence...and dropped into the baseball heaven he was seeking.
The Dave Clark 5 deserve a place in Rock & Roll Heaven right along there beside Question Mark & The Mysterians, the Standells, Count Five, the Troggs, and the Music Machine.
The building was once a candy factory, which makes it, Frazier says, mouse heaven.
Ricky bumps it into the garden, and tells me it is going to ‘the cooker heaven’. ‘Where it will be this size,’ adds his wife, her hands making the size of a brick. She means that it is off to the squasher.
Goronwy has gone to goldfish heaven where he is swimming in a beautiful clear blue ocean with all the other fishies.
Synonyms: firmament
sky
welkin
pearly gates
Antonyms: hell
horror
nightmare
Related words: heavenish
heavenriche
Derived words: as high as heaven
before heaven
blue heaven
breath of heaven
by heaven
cope of heaven
cyberheaven
die and go to heaven
eye of heaven
Father of Heaven
for heaven's sake
gift from heaven
gift from the heavens
God in heaven
happy birthday in heaven
heaven-born
heaven-bound
heaven-bow
heaven-bridge
heaven-burster
heaven forbid
heaven forfend
heavenful
heaven-gazer
heaven god
heaven help someone
heaven helps those that help themselves
heaven helps those who help themselves
heaven-high
heavenhood
heavenise
heavenize
heaven knows
heaven only knows
heavenless
heavenlike
heavenly
heaveno
heaven of heaven
heaven of heavens
heaven on a stick
heaven on earth
heaven-plant
heavens
heavenscape
heaven-sent
heaven spot
heaven tree
heavenward
heavenwards
heaven-wide
heaven worship
hog heaven
in heaven's name
in the name of heaven
Kingdom of Heaven
knocking on heaven's door
lemon heaven
Mandate of Heaven
manna from heaven
match made in heaven
midheaven
move heaven and earth
nigger heaven
pennies from heaven
rose of heaven
seven minutes in heaven
seventh heaven
Son of Heaven
stink to high heaven
Temple of Heaven
thank heaven
Third Heaven
to high heaven
tree of heaven
under heaven
vault of heaven
Translations:
lang: Albanian
word: qiell
lang: Albanian
word: pjetë
lang: Amharic
word: ሰማይ
roman: sämay
lang: Ao
word: kotak (Chungli)
lang: Arabic
word: سَمَاء
roman: samāʔ
lang: Arabic
word: فَلَك
roman: falak
lang: Aramaic
word: ܫܡܝܐ
roman: šəmayyā
lang: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
word: שְׁמַיָּא
roman: šəmayyā
lang: Armenian
word: երկինք
roman: erkinkʻ
lang: Asturian
word: cielu
lang: Bashkir
word: күк
roman: kük
lang: Bengali
word: আকাশ
roman: akaś
lang: Bengali
word: আসমান
roman: asman
lang: Bengali
word: স্বর্গ
roman: śorgo
lang: Bulgarian
word: небе́
roman: nebé
lang: Burmese
word: ကောင်းကင်
roman: kaung:kang
lang: Catalan
word: cel
lang: Cebuano
word: langit
lang: Chechen
word: стигал
roman: stigal
lang: Chichewa
word: mlengalenga
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 天空
roman: tiānkōng
lang: Czech
word: nebe
lang: Czech
word: obloha
lang: Dalmatian
word: cil
lang: Danish
word: himmel
lang: Dutch
word: hemel
lang: Dutch
word: lucht
lang: Dutch
word: firmament
lang: Dutch
word: uitspansel
lang: Esperanto
word: ĉielo
lang: Estonian
word: taevas
lang: Finnish
word: taivas
lang: French
word: ciel
lang: Saterland Frisian
word: Heemel
lang: West-Frisian
word: himel
lang: Friulian
word: cîl
lang: Friulian
word: paradîs
lang: Galician
word: ceo
lang: Georgian
word: ზეცა
roman: zeca
lang: German
word: Himmel
lang: German
word: Firmament
lang: Swabian
word: Hemmel
lang: Gothic
word: 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃
roman: himins
lang: Greek
word: ουρανός
roman: ouranós
lang: Greek
word: ουράνια
roman: ouránia
lang: Ancient Greek
word: οὐρανός
roman: ouranós
lang: Hawaiian
word: lani
lang: Hebrew
word: שָׁמַיִם
roman: shamáyim
lang: Higaonon
word: langit
lang: Hindi
word: आकाश
roman: ākāś
lang: Hindi
word: गगन
roman: gagan
lang: Hindi
word: अम्बर
roman: ambar
lang: Hindi
word: व्योम
roman: vyom
lang: Hungarian
word: ég
lang: Hungarian
word: égbolt
lang: Hungarian
word: mennybolt
lang: Ido
word: cielo
lang: Indonesian
word: langit
lang: Ingrian
word: taivas
lang: Interlingua
word: celo
lang: Isoko
word: idedeghe
lang: Italian
word: cielo
lang: Japanese
word: 空
roman: sora
lang: Japanese
word: 天
roman: ten
lang: Kashubian
word: niebò
lang: Kazakh
word: аспан
roman: aspan
lang: Korean
word: 하늘
roman: haneul
lang: Central Kurdish
word: ئاسمان
roman: asman
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: ezman
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: asîman
lang: Latin
word: caelum
lang: Latvian
word: debesis
lang: Lingala
word: likoló
lang: Lithuanian
word: dangus
lang: Low German
word: Heven
lang: Macedonian
word: небо
roman: nebo
lang: Macedonian
word: небеса
roman: nebesa
lang: Malagasy
word: lanitra
lang: Maltese
word: ġenna
lang: Maltese
word: sema
lang: Manchu
word: ᠠᠪᡴᠠ
roman: abka
lang: Māori
word: rangi
lang: Massachusett
word: kesuck
lang: Massachusett
word: kéesuck
lang: Middle English
word: hevene
lang: Middle English
word: welken
lang: Mongolian
word: тэнгэр
roman: tenger
lang: Navajo
word: wótʼááh
lang: Norn
word: Chimeri
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: himmel
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: sky
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: himmel
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: sky
lang: Occitan
word: cèl
lang: Ojibwe
word: giizhig
lang: Ojibwe
word: giizhigoon
lang: Church Slavic
word: небо
roman: nebo
lang: Church Slavic
word: ⱀⰵⰱⱁ
roman: nebo
lang: Old Galician-Portuguese
word: ceo
lang: Old Turkic
word: 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃
lang: Pashto
word: هسک
roman: hask
lang: Persian
word: آسمان
roman: âsmân
lang: Persian
word: سپهر
roman: sepehr
lang: Persian
word: گرزمان
roman: garozmân
lang: Plautdietsch
word: Himmel
lang: Polabian
word: nebü
lang: Polish
word: niebo
lang: Portuguese
word: céu
lang: Romanian
word: cer
lang: Russian
word: не́бо
roman: nébo
lang: Russian
word: небеса́
roman: nebesá
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: speur
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: не̏бо
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: небеса
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: nȅbo
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: nebesa
lang: Slovak
word: nebo
lang: Slovene
word: nebo
lang: Slovene
word: nébes
lang: Lower Sorbian
word: njebjo
lang: Upper Sorbian
word: njebjo
lang: Southern Altai
word: кӧк
roman: kök
lang: Southern Altai
word: теҥери
roman: teŋeri
lang: Spanish
word: cielo
lang: Spanish
word: firmamento
lang: Swahili
word: mbingu
lang: Swedish
word: himmel
lang: Swedish
word: sky
lang: Tagalog
word: langit
lang: Tagalog
word: kalangitan
lang: Thai
word: ฟ้า
roman: fáa
lang: Tigrinya
word: ሰማይ
roman: sämay
lang: Tumbuka
word: mlengalenga
lang: Tumbuka
word: macanya
lang: Turkish
word: gökyüzü
lang: Turkish
word: gök
lang: Ugaritic
word: 𐎌𐎎𐎎
roman: šmm
lang: Ukrainian
word: не́бо
roman: nébo
lang: Urdu
word: آکاش
roman: ākāś
lang: Urdu
word: آسمان
roman: āsmān
lang: Urdu
word: گگن
lang: Vietnamese
word: trời
lang: Welsh
word: wybr
lang: Yiddish
word: הימל
roman: himl
lang: Yiddish
word: שמים
roman: shomayem
lang: Yucatec Maya
word: kaʼan
lang: Zazaki
word: azmin (diq)
lang: Zazaki
word: sema (diq)
lang: Zazaki
word: gırazmin
lang: Zazaki
word: sapar
lang: Zulu
word: izulu