empyrean, a. and n.
(ɛmpɪˈriːən, ɛmˈpɪrɪən)
Also 6 empyrian, 7–8 empyræan.
[f. as prec. + -an.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to the sphere of fire or highest heaven. Also fig.
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. 3 It pleased God first of all to create the Empyrean Heaven. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. 93 The pearl we seek for is not to be found in the Indian, but in the empyrean ocean. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 27 Above the starry sphere..finally the empyrean heaven, or heaven of heavens. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude iv. (1850) 98 Drenched in empyrean light. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 306 From the Courts of the Empyrean dome Came forth what seemed a fiery car. |
B. n.
1. The highest heaven. In ancient cosmology the sphere of the pure element of fire: in Christian use, the abode of God and the angels. Also fig.
| 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 73 Divine Interpreter sent Down from the Empyrean. 1755 in Johnson. 1847 Ld. Lindsay Chr. Art I. Introd. 32 The empyrean, the first work of creation and the residence and throne of God. 1878 Newcomb Pop. Astron. iv. 408 The empyrean, or kingdom of fire. |
2. transf. a. The visible heavens or firmament. b. The whole extent of cosmic space.
| 1808 J. Barlow Columb. iv. 456 O'er great, o'er small extends his physic laws, Empalms the empyrean. 1821 Craig Lect. Drawing v. 262 The vast empyrean of the sky. 1880 M. Pattison Milton xiii. 179 The physical universe itself [becomes] a drop suspended in the infinite empyrean. |