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celestial

adj
/sɪˈlɛs.ti.əl/UK/səˈlɛs.t͡ʃ(ə)l/US

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂i-lom Proto-Italic *kailom? Latin caelum Latin terrestris Latin -estris Latin caelestis Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Medieval Latin caelestiālislbor. Old French celestialbor. Middle English celestial English celestial The adjective is derived from Late Middle English celestial (“relating to the heavens or sky; (Christianity) relating to heaven, divine, heavenly”), borrowed from Old French celestial (modern French céleste), from Medieval Latin caelestiālis (“celestial”), or directly from its etymon Latin caelestis (“of or in the heavens, heavenly; (figurative) of the gods, divine; etc.”), from caelum (“heaven; sky”) (ultimate etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilom (“whole”)) + -estris (suffix meaning ‘dwelling or located in’ forming adjectives from nouns). The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective. Adjective sense 2.2 (“of or relating to China”) and noun sense 3 (“native of China”) refer to Celestial Empire (a calque of Mandarin 天朝 (Tiāncháo, “(literary) the Chinese Empire, China”), from 天 (tiān, “heaven; sky”) + 朝 (cháo, “dynasty; emperor’s reign; imperial court; etc.”)), a dated name for China when it was subject to imperial rule.

  1. derived from *kéh₂ilos✻
  2. derived from caelestis — “of or in the heavens, heavenly; (figurative) of the gods, divine; etc.”
  3. derived from caelestiālis — “celestial”
  4. derived from celestial
  5. inherited from celestial — “relating to the heavens or sky; (Christianity) relating to heaven, divine, heavenly”

Definitions

  1. Of, relating to, or located in the sky or outer space, where the Sun, Moon, planets, and…

    Of, relating to, or located in the sky or outer space, where the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars are visible.

    • [G]oe vvith ſpeede / To ſome forlorne and naked Hermytage, / Remote from all the pleaſurs of the vvorld: / There ſtay vntill the tvvelue Celeſtiall Signes / Haue brought about the annuall reckoning.
    • [W]e muſt of neceſſitie vſe the benefit of yeares, daies, hovvers, minutes, vvhich all grovve from cœleſtiall motion.

  2. Of a nose

    Of a nose: upturned, as if towards the sky.

  3. Of or relating to China

    Of or relating to China; Chinese.

    • We ate chow-chow with chop-sticks in the celestial restaurants; […]
    • [H]e possessed the most delightful chinoiseries—trophies of his sojourn in the Celestial Empire: […]
  4. ›+ 9 more definitions

    1. Extremely beautiful, good, or pleasurable

      Extremely beautiful, good, or pleasurable; divine, heavenly, wonderful.

    2. Of or relating to heaven as the place where deities (or the Christian God), spiritual…

      Of or relating to heaven as the place where deities (or the Christian God), spiritual beings, etc., exist; heavenly.

      • Thus ſhall my heart be ſtil combinde with thine, / Untill our bodies turne to Elements: / And both our ſoules aſpire celeſtiall thrones.
      • But farre above in ſpangled ſheen, / Celeſtiall Cupid her [Venus's] fam'd Son advanc't, / Holds his deare Pſyche ſvveet intranc't […]

    3. Synonym of celestially (“in a celestial manner (adjective senses)”).

      • There young Telemachus, his bloomy face / Glovving cæleſtial-ſvveet vvith godlike grace, / Amid the Circle ſhines: but hope and fear / (Painful viciſſitude!) his boſom tear.

    4. An inhabitant of heaven.

      • [K]ing Joue frõ [from] golden throne vproſe / whom home to heauenly court celeſtials garding at did cloſe.
      • [T]hat graceful VVoman, vvith her Daughters about her, appeared to me vvith greater Dignity than ever any Figure, either of Venus attended by the Graces, Diana vvith her Nymphs, or any other Celeſtial vvho ovves her Being to Poetry.

    5. A thing from heaven

      A thing from heaven; also, a heavenly quality.

    6. A person who is extremely beautiful, of high status, or intelligent, etc.

    7. Sometimes in the form Celestial

      Sometimes in the form Celestial: a native of China; a Chinese person.

    8. a person from the Celestial Empire (usually associated with the period of the Qing…

      a person from the Celestial Empire (usually associated with the period of the Qing Dynasty)

      • However, with true Celestial pertinacity, `John' has stuck to his work.
      • The Celestial was a smart old coot, too. I recall a cowboy who had a violent toothache, went in to try and fool him and told ‘Doc’ Hay he was plenty sick, […]

    9. Coming from or having to do with Fredericton, New Brunswick.

The neighborhood

Derived

celestial blue, celestial body, Celestial City, celestial crown, Celestial Empire, celestial equator, celestial globe, celestial guidance, celestial horizon, celestialite, celestiality, celestialize, celestial latitude, celestial longitude, celestially, celestial marriage, celestial mechanics, celestial navigation, celestialness, celestial object, celestial peace, celestial plural marriage, celestial pole, celestial sphere, celestial stem, celestial teapot, celestial transfer, celestitude, noncelestial, semicelestial, subcelestial, subter-celestial, supercelestial, supracelestial, telestial, uncelestial, under-celestial

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at celestial. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01celestial02visible03seen04understood05speaker06loudspeaker07ones08ground09opposed10opposition

A definitional loop anchored at celestial. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at celestial

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA