firmament

[ fur-muh-muh nt ]

/ ˈfɜr mə mənt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR firmament ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the vault of heaven; sky.

RELATED WORDS

lid, empyrean, sky, welkin, vault

Nearby words

firing pin, firing range, firing squad, firkin, firm, firmament, firman, firmer chisel, firmer gouge, firmware, firn

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 forms

fir·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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
The star of his genius mounted, without a cloud to obscure it, in the firmament of the Church.
The Lives of the Saints, Volume III (of 16): March|Sabine Baring-Gould
The firmament possesses but one sun, and the land of Irk but one king.
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan|James Morier

The sky was brilliant with stars, as if the firmament were strewn with silver dust.
Captain Canot|Brantz Mayer
It looks to me like the firmament at night, with all the stars a-shining.
The Long Roll|Mary Johnston
That Auntie Jan loved them both with her whole heart was now one of the fixed stars in Tony's firmament of beliefs.
Jan and Her Job|L. Allen Harker

British Dictionary definitions for firmament

firmament

/ (ˈfɜːməmənt) /

noun

the expanse of the sky; heavens

Derived Forms

firmamental (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