heaven English · revision 4394

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gem-pro *himinaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhev.ən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|heven]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|heofon|t=the sky, firmament; the home of God]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) probably from Proto-Germanic *hibin-, a dissimilation of *himin-,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) also the source of Old Norse himinn and Gothic himins and, with an l suffix, Old Frisian himul, Dutch hemel and German Himmel.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Its ultimate origin is uncertain and disputed.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) It perhaps means “a covering”, from [[ine-pro|*kem-|t=to cover]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) or, as Watkins derives it, from *ak- “sharp”, through *akman- “stone”, the “stony vault of heaven”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The sky, firmament: about 725, in Beowulf, according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) The home of God is from about 1000.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The plural heavens, as in Biblical language, translated the Hebrew plural shamayim;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) its use for the sky probably also reflects the Ptolemaic picture of space as many spheres,^(Etymonline) each of which was a heaven in earlier cosmography, from 1340.^(OED 1989) “A heavenly place, a state of bliss” is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and ''seventh heaven'', from the highest of the seven heavens of some Jewish and Muslim teaching, came to mean “ecstatically happy” in the late 18th century.^(Cresswell 2021) In 17th- and 18th-century verse it was regularly one syllable.^(Etymonline) ''Heavenward'' is from about 1250^(Barnhart 1988) and ''heaven-sent'' from the 1640s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – the sky.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1000 – the abode of God.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1250 – ''heavenward''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1340 – a celestial sphere.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – a state of bliss.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – ''heaven-sent''.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 18th century – ''seventh heaven''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # In many religions, the dwelling place of [[God]], the angels and the souls of the saved.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A state of eternal communion with God; everlasting [[bliss]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''often heavens'': the sky, as seen from the earth; the [[firmament]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A place or condition of great happiness.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''Heaven'': God, as in exclamations: ''Heaven knows''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[heavenless]]

+ * [[heaven-born]]

+ * [[heavenly]]

+ * [[heaven-sent]]

+ * [[heavenward]]

+ * [[heavenwards]]

+ * [[midheaven]]

+ * [[blue heaven]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[heavens]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}