celestial

celestial · adjective, adverb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*kéh₂ilom
2. Proto-Italic*kailom?
3. Latincaelum
4. Latinterrestris
5. Latincaelestis
6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
8. Medieval Latincaelestiāli
9. Old Frenchcelestia
10. Middle Englishcelestial
11. English todaycelestial

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English celestial (“relating to the heavens or sky; (Christianity) relating to heaven, divine, heavenly”), borrowed from Old French celestial (modern French céleste), from Medieval Latin caelestiālis (“celestial”), or directly from its etymon Latin caelestis (“of or in the heavens, heavenly; (figurative) of the gods, divine; etc.”), from caelum (“heaven; sky”) (ultimate etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilom (“whole”)) + -estris (suffix meaning ‘dwelling or located in’ forming adjectives from nouns). The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective. Adjective sense 2.2 (“of or relating to China”) and noun sense 3 (“native of China”) refer to Celestial Empire (a calque of Mandarin 天朝 (Tiāncháo, “(literary) the Chinese Empire, China”), from 天 (tiān, “heaven; sky”) + 朝 (cháo, “dynasty; emperor’s reign; imperial court; etc.”)), a dated name for China when it was subject to imperial rule.

Celestial · noun²

From the Celestial Empire, a colloquialism for the Chinese Empire / Empire of China / Imperial China.

Celestial · adjective³

After the name Celestial City.

Words from the same roots