welkin

noun
/ˈwɛlkɪn/UK/ˈwɛlkən/US

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English welken, wolken (“weather; heavens; earlier cloud”), from Old English wolcnu (“sky, heavens”), plural form of wolcn (“cloud”), from Proto-West Germanic *wolkn (“cloud”), from Proto-Germanic *wulkną (“cloud”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥ɡ-no-m, from *welg- (“damp; wet”). Cognate with Dutch wolk (“cloud”), German Wolke (“cloud”).

  1. inherited from *wulkną — “cloud
  2. inherited from *wolkn — “cloud
  3. inherited from wolcnu — “sky, heavens
  4. inherited from welken

Definitions

  1. The sky which appears to an observer on the Earth as a dome in which celestial bodies are…

    The sky which appears to an observer on the Earth as a dome in which celestial bodies are visible; the firmament.

    • He leaues the vvelkin vvay moſt beaten playne, / And rapt with vvhirling vvheeles, inflames the ſkyen, / With fire not made to burne, but fayrely for to ſhyne.
    • The ſkye it ſeemes vvould povvre dovvn ſtinking pitch, / But that the Sea, mounting to th' vvelkins cheeke, / Daſhes the fire out.
    • Come (Sir Page) / Looke on me vvith your VVelkin eye: […]
  2. The upper atmosphere occupied by clouds, flying birds, etc.

    • [W]ho you are, and vvhat you vvould are out of my vvelkin, I might ſay Element, but the word is ouer-vvorne.
    • Rhotus was going on when day appear'd, / And with its light the cloudy welkin clear'd.
    • For trifles only suit an idle hour, / When school is emptied or the welkins pour.
  3. The place above the Earth where God or other deities live

    The place above the Earth where God or other deities live; heaven.

    • [T]his villanous Poetry vvill vndoe you, by the VVelkin.
    • Hovv glittereth novv this place of great requeſt, / Like to the ſeat of heavenly vvelkin hie?
    • […] Cassiopœia was taken, / Deep-bosomed wife of the king, whom oft far-seeing Apollo / Watched well-pleased from the welkin, the fairest of Æthiop women: […]

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for welkin. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

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