Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The vault or expanse of the heavens; the sky.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Foundation; support; basis.
- n. The sky or heavens; the vault of heaven, viewed as something solid and abiding; the region of the air. [The Hebrew word rakia, which is so rendered in Scripture, conveys chiefly the idea of expansion, although that of solidity is also suggested, inasmuch as the root signification of the word is ‘that which is expanded by beating out.’ The English firmament is adopted from the Latin firmamentum, which is the equivalent of the Greek
στερέωμα (⟨στερεός , firm, solid), by which the writers of the Septuagint rendered rakia. Some old astronomers identified the firmament with the orb of the fixed stars; but the word never had any settled and exact meaning in astronomy.] - n. A piece of jewelry, as a star or the like, meant to be worn in a head-dress, such as the commode or tower of the seventeenth century.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable The vault of the heavens; the sky.
- n. obsolete basis.
- n. The field or sphere of an interest or activity.
- n. archaic In the geocentric Ptolemaic system, the eighth sphere, which carried the fixed stars.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. obsolete Fixed foundation; established basis.
- n. The region of the air; the sky or heavens.
- n. (Old Astron.) The orb of the fixed stars; the most rmote of the celestial spheres.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the apparent surface of the imaginary sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin firmāmentum, from Latin, support, from firmāre, to strengthen; see firm2. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The head of the good beast rises into the heavens, the mysterious waters which cover the world flow along her spine; the star-covered underside of her body, which we call the firmament, is visible to the inhabitants of earth, and her four legs are the four pillars standing at the four cardinal points of the world.”
History Of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 1 (of 12)
“The reader may also refer to the note of Johannes Clericus, in his commentary on Genesis, who retains the word firmament, and argues at length in vindication of the term.”
“The firmament is the cupola of his temple and the breath of millions the incense of his altar.”
“Scripture constantly makes use of the word firmament to express extraordinary strength.”
“I have said what the word firmament in Scripture means.”
“But the firmament is firm, and answers to its name, when those who seem to prop it are gone.”
“The interposing firmament is to him as transparent crystal, Ezek. i.”
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon)
“In thy book thou dost discuss these things with us wisely, our God -- in thy book, which is thy "firmament" -- in order that we may be able to view all things in admiring contemplation, although thus far we must do so through signs and seasons and in days and years.”
Confessions and Enchiridion, newly translated and edited by Albert C. Outler
“As to the heavens in general, the prevailing view in the Church was based upon the scriptural declarations that a solid vault -- a "firmament" -- was extended above the earth, and that the heavenly bodies were simply lights hung within it.”
A History of the warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom
“Perhaps it is really true that the earth is a dark ball, hanging in the open space which we call the firmament of heaven, moving slowly round the shining sun, but spinning like a top all the time itself, so that first one side and then the other faces the brightness; and thus there is a constant change from light to darkness and darkness to light going on all over the world; and this makes Day and Night.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘firmament’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
wrath, leaf, belly, prey, death, break, six, nod, dim, end, inn, judge and 1286 more...
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of Montreal
Every time I finally decipher Kevin Barnes's song lyrics, I feel somewhat smarter.
These are strange/big/obscure words and phrases from the lyrics of the band 'of Montreal' (intentiona...southern hemisphe..., paradigm, Phaidon Press, permutation, List Christie, Gemini Tactics, eluardian, persecution complex, Himmlers, parabola, Mono Club, subconscious mass... and 132 more...
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-ments aplenty
The stranger, the better.
battlement, devilment, ailment, dismemberment, embezzlement, blandishment, entanglement, engorgement, embankment, elopement, disgruntlement, hutment and 77 more...
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word heroin
Words that are a rush both to look at and to say.
smack, incarnadine, expiate, cutty sark, travesty, dona nobis pacem, syllabub, incandescent, firmament, zanzibar, fiasco, turbulent and 8 more...
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Naturals
dogtooth violet, adder's-tongue, ribbon fern, breadberry, echinate, stamen, aeolian, boreas, chinook, Eurus, firmament, edentata and 35 more...
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Relating To: The Sky
Words of, about, or relating to the heavens.
firmament, horizon, celestial, pleiades, supernal, welkin, cerulean, hypaethral, abatjour, upaithric, canopus, cerulific and 40 more...
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Words from poetry you write that you ...
See title
ireland, tattered, contents, silver, springs, waltz, spite, hammock, slackening, firmament, poesy, writ and 24 more...
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Deceptively named words
Words that mean the opposite of what they sound like they mean
pulchritude, enervate, restive, puissant, redoubtable, spendthrift, quean, matriculate, tripping, gainsay, nonplus, prosaic and 12 more...
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Poetic
the blue hour, dinner-pail, long-drawn, pettifog, spoonmeat, crawler, eructate, voiced, medial, tessellated, eyeballs, amphigory and 48 more...
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Spheres
Pneumatosphere, planisphere, empyrean, bailiwick, blastula, orbicle, globose, welkin, almucantar, bathysphere, colure, blastocyst and 46 more...
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Words from Moby Dick
frigate, presumptuous, genteel, succor, hearthstone, gentry, factitious, bilious, insurgent, portent, enervate, genuflect and 303 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 2369 more... -
Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
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collection
sanguine, vie, antebellum, glacial, treacly, iconoclast, lissom, anathema, serendipity, parsimonious, histrionic, contemptuous and 279 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for firmament.
cutlery One of the ugliest words ever for one of the most glorious things ever. A shame. It sounds like it means solidified plaque. "Aha, Mr. Johnson, it looks we've got quite a bit of firmament building up on the side of your molars." Jan 24, 2010
cutlery "My daydream had me traveling to Belgium, persuading Vyvyan Ayers he needed to employ me as an amanuensis, accepting his offer to tutor me, shooting through the musical firmament, winning fame and fortune..." (Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, 045.5). Jan 24, 2010
madmouth So as soon as the door of 27 closed on Mr. and Mrs. Darling there was a commotion in the firmament, and the smallest of all the stars in the Milky Way screamed out : "Now, Peter!"
-James M. Barrie, "Peter and Wendy"
Apr 13, 2009