Definition of HEAVEN

heaven

Meanings

Plural: heavens

Noun

  • any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
  • the abode of God and the angels
  • The sky, specifically:
  • The distant sky in which the sun, moon, and stars appear or move; the firmament; the celestial spheres.
  • The sky, specifically:
  • The near sky in which weather, flying animals, etc. appear; (obsolete) the atmosphere; the climate.
  • The sky, specifically:
  • A model displaying the movement of the celestial bodies, an orrery.
  • The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
  • The abode of God and of the angels and saints in His presence.
  • The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
  • The abode of the Abrahamic God; similar abodes of the gods in other religions and traditions, such as Mount Olympus.
  • The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
  • Providence, the will of God or the council of the gods; fate.
  • The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:
  • Paradise, the afterlife of the souls who are not sent to a place of punishment or purification such as hell, purgatory, or limbo; the state or condition of being in the presence of God after death.
  • The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:
  • The afterlife of the blessed dead in other religions and traditions, such as the Pure Land or Elysium.
  • The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically
  • Any paradise; any blissful place or experience.
  • A state of bliss; a peaceful ecstasy.
  • Similarly blissful afterlives, places, or states for particular people, animals, or objects.

Verb

  • To transport to the abode of God, the gods, or the blessed.
  • To beatify, enchant, or please greatly.
  • To beautify, to make into a paradise.

Origin / Etymology

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”).

Synonyms

delight, dream, Eden, firmament, kingdom come, nirvana, paradise, pearly gates, promised land, Shangri-la, sky, welkin, Xanadu

Antonyms

Hell, hell, horror, nightmare

Scrabble Score: 12

heaven is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
heaven is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
heaven is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

heaven is a valid Words With Friends word