firmament

American  

[fur-muh-muhnt] / ˈfɜr mə mənt /

noun

1. the vault of heaven; sky.

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firmament British  

/ ˈfɜːməmənt, ˌfɜːməˈmɛntəl /

noun

1. the expanse of the sky; heavens

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• firmamental
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of firmament

1250–1300; Middle English < Late Latin firmāmentum sky, Latin: support, prop, stay, equivalent to firmā ( re ) to strengthen, support ( see firm ²) + -mentum -ment

Explanation

The firmament is the curve of the sky, especially if you imagine it as a solid surface. You can describe the sky at night as a firmament shining with stars (if you're feeling poetic). The word firmament comes from the Latin firmus, or "firm," and this description of the sky as something solid reflects ancient ideas of the way the universe was constructed. The first stargazers imagined the sky as a sphere, and it wasn't until the late 1500s that the idea of an infinite universe was seriously considered. Today the word firmament is mostly literary, used to poetically describe the visual curve of the sky.

Example Sentences

By the time police arrived at the home on Firmament Avenue, the suspect or suspects were gone.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2024

Perhaps the most beautiful piece to make sure you spend some time experiencing at Burning Man this year is Firmament by Christopher Schardt.

From The Guardian • Sep. 1, 2016

Firmament is a canopy net of 21,600 lights which move to classical music.

From The Guardian • Sep. 1, 2016

As the storm subsided, the cast climbed back to the stage singing a four-part Britten Alleluia, filed out singing Thomas Tallis' The Spacious Firmament on High.

From Time Magazine Archive

Rothmannus, both who thought the Firmament to bee onely aire: and though the noble Tycho De stella.

From The Discovery of a World in the Moone Or, A Discovrse Tending To Prove That 'Tis Probable There May Be Another Habitable World In That Planet by Wilkins, John