empyrean

[ em-puh-ree-uhn, -pahy-, em-pir-ee-uhn, -pahy-ree- ]
See synonyms for: empyreanempyreans on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the highest heaven, supposed by the ancients to contain the pure element of fire.

  2. the visible heavens; the firmament.

adjective

Origin of empyrean

1
1605–15; <Late Latin empyre(us) empyreal + -an

Words Nearby empyrean

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use empyrean in a sentence

  • Thy saddle shall be broidered with the stars of the empyrean,—and then thou wilt destroy it!

    Bouvard and Pcuchet, part 2 | Gustave Flaubert
  • It rained only at night; and all that crystal clear mid-summer scarcely a shred of fleece dappled the empyrean.

    The Little Red Foot | Robert W. Chambers
  • And they became what may be called an Evanescent Vapor, until all was lost in the empyrean.

    The Cassowary | Stanley Waterloo
  • The star-fire of the empyrean shall eclipse itself, and illuminate magic-lanterns to amuse grown children?

    Past and Present | Thomas Carlyle
  • It has become a giant, terrible bird, the great auk of music, that seizes you in its talons and spirals into the empyrean.

    Musical Portraits | Paul Rosenfeld

British Dictionary definitions for empyrean

empyrean

/ (ˌɛmpaɪˈriːən) /


noun
  1. archaic the highest part of the (supposedly spherical) heavens, thought in ancient times to contain the pure element of fire and by early Christians to be the abode of God and the angels

  2. poetic the heavens or sky

adjectiveAlso: empyreal
  1. of or relating to the sky, the heavens, or the empyrean

  2. heavenly or sublime

  1. archaic composed of fire

Origin of empyrean

1
C17: from Medieval Latin empyreus, from Greek empuros fiery, from pur fire

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012