Contextualizebeta

heaven

noun
/ˈhɛvən/

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”).

  1. inherited from *himinaz✻ — “cover, cloud cover, firmament, sky, heaven”
  2. inherited from *hebun✻ — “heaven, sky”
  3. inherited from heofon

Definitions

  1. The sky, specifically

    The sky, specifically:

    • All that is vnder the heauen.
    • The ordinaunce...made such a great noyse and thunderyng that it seemed the heaven would have fallen.

  2. The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky

    The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:

    • 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.

  3. The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of…

    The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically

  4. ›+ 13 more definitions

    1. Any paradise

      Any paradise; any blissful place or experience.

      • 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.

    2. A state of bliss

      A state of bliss; a peaceful ecstasy.

      • 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.

    3. Similarly blissful afterlives, places, or states for particular people, animals, or…

      Similarly blissful afterlives, places, or states for particular people, animals, or objects.

      • 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.

    4. To transport to the abode of God, the gods, or the blessed.

      • He heauens himselfe on earth, & for a litle pelfe cousens himselfe of blisse.

    5. To beatify, enchant, or please greatly.

      • They [Byron's Tales]...enraptured the public and heavened Murray.

    6. To beautify, to make into a paradise.

    7. The abode of God or the gods, when considered as a specific location

      The abode of God or the gods, when considered as a specific location; the abode of the blessed departed who reside in the presence of God or the gods

      • 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.
      • Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.

    8. Providence, the will of God or the gods, when considered as a personal entity or specific…

      Providence, the will of God or the gods, when considered as a personal entity or specific aspect of the divine; Fate

      • ...but that the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs,
      • Heaven commands thine arm To lift the sure-destroying sword!
      • ...executing the just judgment of offended Heaven upon cattle-houghers, traitors, and assassins.

    9. Other extended senses of heaven as a specific place similar to the abode of God, the…

      Other extended senses of heaven as a specific place similar to the abode of God, the gods, or the blessed departed

      • The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.

    10. The sky, particularly its distant aspect as the abode of the sun, moon, and stars

      • Everie...Countrie, by the nature of the place, the climate of the Heaven, and the influence of the starres hath certaine vertues.
      • The Heauens...are carried in 24 houres from East to West.

    11. The supreme God or Nature which controls the universe.

      • What Heaven has conferred is called the Nature...

    12. A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Evan

    13. A female given name from English of modern usage from the noun heaven.

The neighborhood

Derived

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 · +39 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at heaven. 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.

01heaven02gods03platform04military05army06agency07choices08choice09choose10elect

A definitional loop anchored at heaven. 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 heaven

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