firmament

[fur-muh-muh nt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR firmament ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the vault of heaven; sky.

Origin of firmament

1250–1300; Middle English < Late Latin firmāmentum sky, Latin: support, prop, stay, equivalent to firmā(re) to strengthen, support (see firm²) + -mentum -ment

Related formsfir·ma·men·tal

[fur-muh-men-tl] /ˌfɜr məˈmɛn tl/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for firmament

lid, empyrean, sky, welkin, vault

Examples from the Web for firmament

Contemporary Examples of firmament

The reader leaves with a better sense of the firmament and frontline fights occurring in the current independent movement.
Political Independents: The Future of Politics?
John Avlon
September 23, 2012
But his disappearance from the Washington firmament does not mean that the work he used to do is being left undone.
David’s Book Club: ‘Capitol Punishment’
David Frum
March 23, 2012

Historical Examples of firmament

But now came a cloud which swallowed every other in my firmament.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
The troop of the stars was posted in the immeasurable deeps of the firmament.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens
In the great days, presentiments hover before me in the firmament.
Essays, First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
In all the firmament of poetry there was no star to outshine his.
William Shakespeare
Samuel Levy Bensusan
The firmament rang with laughter as the other candidates panted up.
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill

British Dictionary definitions for firmament

firmament

noun

the expanse of the sky; heavens

Derived Formsfirmamental (ˌfɜːməˈmɛntəl), adjective

Word Origin for firmament

C13: from Late Latin firmāmentum sky (considered as fixed above the earth), from Latin: prop, support, from firmāre to make firm 1

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

Word Origin and History for firmament

mid-13c., from Latin firmamentum "firmament," literally "a support or strengthening," from firmus "firm" (see firm (adj.)), used in Vulgate to translate Greek stereoma "firm or solid structure," which translated Hebrew raqia, a word used of both the vault of the sky and the floor of the earth in the Old Testament, probably literally "expanse," from raqa "to spread out," but in Syriac meaning "to make firm or solid," hence the erroneous translation.