firmament
(ˈfɜːməmənt)
Forms: 4–6 fer-, fyrmament(e, 3– firmament.
[ad. L. firmāment-um. f. firmā-re to strengthen, f. firmus firm. Cf. OF. firmament.
In class. Lat. the word means ‘something which strengthens or supports’ (cf. 3). In the Vulgate it was adopted, in imitation of the στερέωµα of the LXX (properly ‘firm or solid structure’, f. στερεόειν to make firm or solid, f. στερεός firm, solid), as the rendering of Hb. rāqīăﻋ, applied to the vault of the sky. The Heb. word prob. means ‘expanse’, from the root rāqaﻋ which in the Bible has the senses ‘to tread’, ‘to beat out (metals)’, ‘to spread out’; but in Syriac the vb. means ‘to condense, make firm or solid’, whence the Gr. and Lat. renderings of the n.]
1. a. The arch or vault of heaven overhead, in which the clouds and the stars appear; the sky or heavens. In mod. use only poet. or rhetorical.
| [c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 309 On þam oðrum dæᵹe he ᵹeworhte firmamentum þæt ys þeos heofon.] c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 95 Ðo god bad ben ðe firmament. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 226/248 Þat huy ne yseiȝen no-þing bote þe se ant þe firmament. c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 975 Bright was the day, and bliew the firmament. 1555 Eden Decades 35 That lyttle sleepe that they had was..abrode vnder the firmamente. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 604 Now glow'd the Firmament With living Saphirs. 1693 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 192 This morning a rain⁓bow seen in the firmament. 1846 tr. Schlegel's Phil. Hist. 80 The northern firmament possesses by far the largest and most brilliant constellations. 1877 Bryant Poems, Receive thy Sight ii, The pleasant rays That lit the glorious firmament. |
b. Heaven, as the place where God dwells. Obs. exc. in Biblical and liturgical phrases.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 221 Thikke þowsandez..Fellen fro the fyrmament, fendez ful blake. 1388 Wyclif Ps. cl. 1 Herie ȝe þe lord in hise seyntis! herie ȝe him in þe firmament of his vertu! 1535 Coverdale Song 3 Childr. 33 Blessed be thou in y⊇ firmament of heauen. 1611 Bible Ps. cl. 1 Praise him in the firmament of his power. |
c. transf. and fig.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 104 Pite, whiche may wele be called the firmament of perfeccyon, for it is the stablysshment of all holy conuersacyon, whereby man..discerneth waters from waters. 1643 Milton Divorce ii. xxii. (1851) 127 That it may be suffer'd to stand in the place where God set it amidst the firmament of his holy Laws. 1667 ― P.L. ii. 175 What if..this Firmament Of Hell should spout her Cataracts of Fire? 1871 E. F. Burr Ad Fidem vi. 97 A whole firmament of twinkling philosophers and philosophies. |
† 2. a. In old Astronomy: The sphere containing the fixed stars; the eighth heaven of the Ptolemaic system.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 43 Þe xii. signez of þe firmament. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 93 A nother heuen ys called the fyrmamente, where are the sterres. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 7 Aboue these seuen planetes, is there an other heauen or skie, whiche commonly is named the Firmament, and hath in it an infinite numbre of starres. 1635 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. iv. 79 The distance of the Firmament, wherein are placed the fixt Starres is not measurable by mans industrie. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. (1845) 15 Those Stars that shine in the Firmament or highest visible Heaven. |
† b. Hence, applied sometimes to the other celestial spheres. first firmament: the Primum mobile.
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 197 O firste moving cruel firmament, With thy diurnal swegh that croudest ay. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 2 He can..yiven every Jugement, Which longeth to the firmament..Both of the sterre and of the mone. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 11 This motion is..called of auncient writers the motion of the First firmament. |
c. transf. in Alchemy. (Cf. heaven.)
| 1610 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. iii, Your sunne, your moone, your firmament, your adrop. |
† 3. a. In the literal etymological sense: Anything which strengthens or supports; a substratum, a firm support or foundation. lit. and fig.
| 1554 Knox Godly Let. B viij, Here is the firmamente of my fyrst cause. a 1555 Philpot Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.) 382 Paul calleth the church the firmament and pillar of truth. 1578 Banister Hist. Man i. 17 [That] this same bone..might be vnto Larinx as a firmament, and foundation. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 388 It was not safe that his thinne coat should runne along without some Firmament. a 1626 Bacon Interpr. Nature i. Wks. 1857 III. 218, I thought it good..to make a strong..bank..to guide the course of the waters; by setting down this position or firmament, namely, That all knowledge is to be limited by religion. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. II. ix. 121 This duty to parents is the very firmament and bond of commonwealths. 1701 S. Sewall Diary 30 June (1879) II. 38 The absence of him who was the Firmament and Ornament of the Province. |
b. The process of strengthening or making firm.
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 144 The tongue hath a ligament or bridle for two causes: First for the firmament of its Basis. |
† 4. (See quot.)
| 1690 Evelyn Mund. Muliebris 7 Pins tipt with Diamond Point, and head, By which the Curls are fastened, In radiant Firmament set out. ― Fop-Dict. 18 Firmament, Diamonds, or other precious Stones heading the Pins which they stick in the Tour, and Hair, like Stars. |
5. Comb.
| 1593 Nashe Christ's Tears Wks. (Grosart) IV. 70 Theyr Firmament-propping foundation, shal be adequated with the Valley of Iehosaphat. 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi 244 A firmament-obliterating irruption of profanity. |
Hence ˈfirmamentˌwards adv., towards the firmament; heavenwards.
| 1886 Burton Arab. Nts. I. 188 Then she flew firmamentwards to circle it. |