celestial
Americanadjective
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pertaining to the sky or visible heaven, or to the universe beyond the earth’s atmosphere, as in
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pertaining to the spiritual or invisible heaven; heavenly; divine.
celestial bliss.
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of or relating to celestial navigation.
a celestial fix.
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Celestial, of or relating to the former Chinese Empire or the Chinese people.
noun
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an inhabitant of heaven.
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Celestial, a citizen of the Celestial Empire.
adjective
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heavenly; divine; spiritual
celestial peace
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of or relating to the sky
celestial bodies
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Relating to the sky or the heavens. Stars and planets are celestial bodies.
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Relating to the celestial sphere or to any of the coordinate systems by which the position of an object, such as a star or planet, is represented on it.
Other Word Forms
- celestiality noun
- celestially adverb
- celestialness noun
- noncelestial adjective
- noncelestially adverb
- supercelestial adjective
- supercelestially adverb
- uncelestial adjective
Etymology
Origin of celestial
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin cēlestiālis, equivalent to Latin caelesti(s) “heavenly” ( cael(um “heaven, sky” + -estis adjective suffix) + -ālis -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Consequently there will continue to be passionate, sometimes contentious, debate over whether the cosmos is gently whispering to us about its true nature, or whether astronomers are chasing celestial ghosts.
From BBC
For a handful of evenings in February, skywatchers were treated to a rare celestial display as seven planets appeared in the evening sky at the same time.
From BBC
This region is positioned near the celestial equator and close to the flat disk of the Milky Way, which makes it visible from many locations on Earth during certain seasons.
From Science Daily
With cameras always at the ready they have managed to capture this year's weather stories with an added dash of celestial sparkle too.
From BBC
They read popular almanacs, and learned and admired the intricacies of orreries—mechanical models of the celestial sphere—that they flocked to view at numerous colleges.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
