heaven

Meaning

1. The sky, specifically:
2. (obsolete) The sky, specifically:
3. (obsolete) The sky, specifically:
4. The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
5. The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
6. The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
7. The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:
8. The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:
9. The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically
10. Any paradise; any blissful place or experience.
11. A state of bliss; a peaceful ecstasy.
12. (informal) Similarly blissful afterlives, places, or states for particular people, animals, or objects.

sky

paradise

upper world

elysium

the creator

king of heaven

stratosphere

> nyadenga 2

Heavenly City

in heaven

Kingdom of Heaven

sweet hereafter

atmosphere

Supreme Being

the sky

distant country

svarga

celestial world

air

City of God

path to the heaven

and ocean

intermediate region

indra’s paradise

world above

Holy City

Frequency

Hyphenated as

heav‧en

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhɛvən/

From a wide variety of Middle English forms including hevene, heven, hevin, and hewin (“heaven, sky”), from Old English heofon, heofone (“heaven, sky”), from Proto-West Germanic *hebn (“heaven, sky”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots heiven, hewin (“heaven, sky”), Middle Dutch heven (“sky, heaven”), Low German Heven (“heaven, sky”), Middle High German heben (“sky, heaven”), and possibly the rare Icelandic and Old Norse hifinn (“heaven, sky”), which are all probably dissimilated forms of the Germanic root which appears in Old Norse himinn (“heaven, sky”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (himins, “heaven, sky”), Old Swedish himin, Old Danish himæn and probably also (in another variant form) Old Saxon himil, Old Dutch himil (modern Dutch hemel), and Old High German himil (German Himmel). Accepting these as cognates, some scholars propose a further derivation from Proto-Germanic *himinaz (“cover, cloud cover, firmament, sky, heaven”).