heaven

plural heavens · alternative poetic heav'n

1. The sky, specifically:
   1. countabledatedplural normallypoeticuncountableThe distant sky in which the sun, moon, and stars appear or move; the firmament; the celestial spheres.

      All that is vnder the heauen.

      1535, Coverdale Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1

      5 more examples

      The ordinaunce...made such a great noyse and thunderyng that it seemed the heaven would have fallen.

      1585, Nicholas de Nicolay, translated by Thomas Washington, The nauigations, peregrinations and voyages, made into Turkie by Nicholas Nicholay, I vi 4

      In ascending orderly vpwardes...The first is the Spheare of the Moone...The seuenth the Spheare of Saturne, The eight the Spheare of the fixed Starres, commonly called the firmament. The ninth is called the second moueable or Christall heauen, The tenth is called the first moueable, and the eleuenth is called the Emperiall heauen, where God and his Angels are said to dwell.

      1594, Thomas Blundeville, M. Blundeuile his Exercises, act I scene 3

      What obscured light the heauens did grant.

      c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

      The Heauens...are carried in 24 houres from East to West.

      1625, Nathanæl Carpenter, chapter 4, in Geography delineated forth in two bookes, volume I, page 77

      God framed alſo the Stars and conſtellations; ſome fixed for the Ornament of Heaven and might, very many in number.

      1656, Tho[mas] Stanley, “[The Doctrine of Plato Delivered by Alcinous.] Chap[ter] XIV. Of the Soul of the World, the Sphears and Stars.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Second Volume, volume II, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring: […], →OCLC, 5th part (Containing the Academick Philosophers), page 74

   2. countableobsoleteuncountableThe near sky in which weather, flying animals, etc. appear; (obsolete) the atmosphere; the climate.

      Fellow-believers...fed the birds of heaven with the carcases of pious and reverend Church-men.

      1660, George Mackenzie, Religio Stoici, II 44

      2 more examples

      Everie...Countrie, by the nature of the place, the climate of the Heaven, and the influence of the starres hath certaine vertues.

      1581, Stefano Guazzo, translated by George Pettie, Ciuile Conuersation, I 26

      The qualitie of mercie is not ſtraind, it droppeth as the gentle raine from heauen vpon the place beneath

      c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   3. countableobsoleteuncountableA model displaying the movement of the celestial bodies, an orrery.

      Euery man cannot, with Archimedes, make a heauen of brasse.

      1600, Thomas Nashe, Summers Last Will

2. The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:
   1. capitalizedcountableuncountableusuallyChristianityThe abode of God and of the angels and saints in His presence.

      Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.

      1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, line 263

      3 more examples

      And there was a battel in heauen. Michael & his Angels foght againſt the dragon, and the dragon foght & his Angels. But they preuailed not, nether was their place founde anie more in heauen.

      1560, Geneva Bible, Revelation 12:7–8

      Conſider firſt that the excommunicated Prelate ſaith... Kings are not immediatly from God, as by any ſpeciall Ordinance ſent from Heaven by the miniſtery of Angels and Prophets, there were but ſome few ſuch, as Moſes, Saul, David, etc.

      1644, Samuel Rutherford, Lex, Rex: The Law and the Prince, V 16

      Christ's coming from the heavens has entered into the life of humanity as the Founder of the world to come.

      1906 July 30, Washington Post, 12 4

      Synonyms: pearly gates

   2. broadlycapitalizedcountableoftenuncountablelifestyleThe abode of the Abrahamic God; similar abodes of the gods in other religions and traditions, such as Mount Olympus.

      With Ioue in heauen, or some where else.

      c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]

      4 more examples

      As he [Muhammad] was returning, in the fourth Heaven, Moses advised him to goe back to God.

      1649, Alexander Ross translating the Sieur Du Ryer, The Alcoran Of Mahomet, Translated out of the Arabique into French... newly Englished, 406

      Like the Buddhas, they [the Jains] believe that there is a plurality of heavens and hells.

      1832, Charles Coleman, The Mythology of the Hindus, XIII 220

      The heaven of Siva is in the midst of the eternal snows and glaciers of Keilás, one of the highest and deepest groups of the stupendous summits of Hémaláya.

      1841, Mountstuart Elphinstone, The History of India, I ii iv 169

      To grasp the Chinese's notion of Heaven, we must look at the contexts in which tian is used... In the Book of Odes (Shi jing 詩經), which includes poems dated between the eleventh and seventh centuries BCE, tian is a place where the Heavenly Thearch resides.

      2011, Lillian Tseng, Picturing Heaven in Early China, section 2

   3. broadlycapitalizedcountableuncountableusuallylifestyleProvidence, the will of God or the council of the gods; fate.

      […]The will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven.

      1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

      5 more examples

      […]he cannot thriue, Vnlesse her prayers, whom heauen delights to heare And loues to grant, repreeue him from the wrath Of greatest Iustice.

      c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]

      After that thou shalt haue knowen that the heauens doe rule.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 4:26

      Heaven commands thine arm To lift the sure-destroying sword!

      1793, Henry Boyd, Poems, II iv 270

      ...executing the just judgment of offended Heaven upon cattle-houghers, traitors, and assassins.

      1886 May 8, The Pall Mall Gazette, 1 1

      There's nothing we can do but pray to heaven for good luck.

      1992, E. Yoshikawa, translated by W.S. Wilson, Taiko, II 186

3. countableuncountablelifestyleThe afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically

   1 more example

   I wonder what your idea of heaven would be—A beautiful vacuum filled with wealthy monogamists, all powerful and members of the best families drinking themselves to death. And hell would probably be an ugly vacuum full of poor polygamists unable to obtain booze... To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely houses in the town; one where I would have my wife and children and be monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors...

   1925 July 1, Ernest Hemingway, letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald

4. The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:
   1. countableuncountableChristianityParadise, 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.

      Teache the people to gett heuen with fastynge.

      1544, Richard Tracy, A supplycacion to our moste soueraigne lorde Kynge henry the eyght Kynge of England of Fraunce and of Irelande, section C

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      ...what I speake My body shall make good vpon this earth, Or my diuine soule answer it in heauen.

      1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene 1]

      Wee haue a great high Priest, that is passed into the heauens.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 4:14

      Synonyms: paradise, kingdom come, Xanadu, Promised Land

   2. broadlycapitalizedcountableoftenuncountablelifestyleThe afterlife of the blessed dead in other religions and traditions, such as the Pure Land or Elysium.

      The belief in ascending to Heaven after death became widespread in the Han dynasty.

      2011, Lillian Tseng, Picturing Heaven in Early China, section 3

5. broadlycountableuncountableAny paradise; any blissful place or experience.

   Ile follow thee and make a heauen of hell.

   c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

   5 more examples

   England, that was formerly the heaven, would be now the hell for women.

   1660 November 14, a speech in the House of Commons in W. Cobbett, Parl. Hist. (1808), IV 145

   The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.

   1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

   Such a shop as that...would be quite a heaven upon earth to me.

   1782, F. Burney, Cecilia, I iii iv 51

   They thought strikes and hunger marches the quintessence of politics and Soviet Russia heaven on earth.

   1940, H.G. Wells, Babes in the Darkling Wood, II iii 198

   While eating my snack I decided to walk around the house and I saw the hallways change into beautiful valleys and oceans. The television screen appeared on the wall. It was so beautiful that I thought I was in heaven.

   2002, Summersill Elementary School, Time Travel, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 16

   Synonyms: delight, dream, paradise

6. broadlycountableuncountableA state of bliss; a peaceful ecstasy.

   We're in heaven.

   2002, DJ Sammy; Yanou; Frank Reinert; Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance; Bob Clearmountain, “Heaven”, in Heaven, performed by Yanou and Do (singer), Title track

   5 more examples

   Husbandes are in heauen...whose wiues scold not.

   1550, J. Heywood, Dialogue Prov. Eng. Tongue, II vii

   Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!

   1809 October 26, William Wordsworth, “The French Revolution as It Appeared to Enthusiasts at Its Commencement”, in Friend, No. 11, ll. 4-5

   He would just stare at me and say, “You are beautiful, you are so beautiful.” I was in heaven hearing this.

   2000, Veronica Brooks, It Could Lead to Dancing, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 18

   She was in heaven — she'd never seen so many stars gathered in one place. She already had her eye on Charlie Dollar. Oh yes, Charlie Dollar might be ancient, but he was still raging hot in a Jack Nicholson kind of way.

   2007, Jackie Collins, Drop Dead Beautiful: A Novel, St. Martin's Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 452

   “Because she was modest and beautiful and he thought he was in heaven when she was around?” “Yes, that's what he said.”

   2008, Robert Scott, Driven To Murder, Pinnacle Books, →ISBN, page 163

7. countableinformaluncountableSimilarly blissful afterlives, places, or states for particular people, animals, or objects.

   Perhaps it has gone to the dog heaven, and is wagging somewhere in glory.

   1867, J.W. De Forest, Miss Ravenel's Conversion, XXVI 368

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   His pet name for Easthampton is ‘Goose-heaven’, and he harps upon the idea eternally.

   1879 February, J. H. Payne, Scribner's Monthly, 470 2

   One gray beard who found the gates closed shinned up the fifteen foot fence...and dropped into the baseball heaven he was seeking.

   1908 October 5, Chicago Tribune, 3 1

   The Dave Clark 5 deserve a place in Rock & Roll Heaven right along there beside Question Mark & The Mysterians, the Standells, Count Five, the Troggs, and the Music Machine.

   1972, M. Sanders, Flash

   The building was once a candy factory, which makes it, Frazier says, mouse heaven.

   1986 February 3, Newsweek, section 70

   Ricky bumps it into the garden, and tells me it is going to ‘the cooker heaven’. ‘Where it will be this size,’ adds his wife, her hands making the size of a brick. She means that it is off to the squasher.

   2003 August 1, Church Times, 28 3

present singular third person heavens · participle present heavening · participle past heavened · past heavened · alternative poetic heav'n

1. obsoleteTo transport to the abode of God, the gods, or the blessed.

   He heauens himselfe on earth, & for a litle pelfe cousens himselfe of blisse.

   1614, Thomas Adams, The divells banket described in sixe sermons, II 81

2. obsoleteTo beatify, enchant, or please greatly.

   They [Byron's Tales]...enraptured the public and heavened Murray.

   1924 April 13, Observer, 12 4

3. obsoleteTo beautify, to make into a paradise.

comparative more heaven · superlative most heaven · alternative poetic heav'n

1. obsoleteBeing heavenly.

1. lifestyleThe abode of God or the gods, when considered as a specific location; the abode of the blessed departed who reside in the presence of God or the gods

   Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.

   1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

   3 more examples

   Conſider firſt that the excommunicated Prelate ſaith... Kings are not immediatly from God, as by any ſpeciall Ordinance ſent from Heaven by the miniſtery of Angels and Prophets, there were but ſome few ſuch, as Moſes, Saul, David, etc.

   1644, Samuel Rutherford, Lex, Rex: The Law and the Prince, V 16

   Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.

   1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page 39

   To grasp the Chinese's notion of Heaven, we must look at the contexts in which tian is used... In the Book of Odes (Shi jing 詩經), which includes poems dated between the eleventh and seventh centuries BCE, tian is a place where the Heavenly Thearch resides.

   2011, Lillian Tseng, Picturing Heaven in Early China, section 2

2. lifestyleProvidence, the will of God or the gods, when considered as a personal entity or specific aspect of the divine; Fate

   Heaven commands thine arm To lift the sure-destroying sword!

   1793, Henry Boyd, Poems, II iv 270

   3 more examples

   ...but that the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs,

   1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, line 212

   ...executing the just judgment of offended Heaven upon cattle-houghers, traitors, and assassins.

   1886 May 8, The Pall Mall Gazette, 1 1

   Cosmologists regarded Heaven as a force—composed of qi (氣), which was divided into yin (陰) and yang (陽) aspects—that kept the cosmos moving.

   2011, Lillian Tseng, Picturing Heaven in Early China, section 3

3. uncommonOther extended senses of heaven as a specific place similar to the abode of God, the gods, or the blessed departed

   The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.

   1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, I 254-255

4. obsoleteThe sky, particularly its distant aspect as the abode of the sun, moon, and stars

   The Heauens...are carried in 24 houres from East to West.

   1625, Nathanæl Carpenter, Geography delineated forth in two bookes, I iv 77

   1 more example

   Everie...Countrie, by the nature of the place, the climate of the Heaven, and the influence of the starres hath certaine vertues.

   1581, Stefano Guazzo, translated by George Pettie, Ciuile Conuersation, I 26

5. Chinesehuman sciencesThe supreme God or Nature which controls the universe.

   What Heaven has conferred is called the Nature...

   1893, James Legge, transl., The Doctrine of the Mean

   2 more examples

   ...‘Heaven’ as we use it throughout the book is only a convenient but inaccurate translation of the Chinese character tian. Heaven in Chinese religions as well as in the Confucian tradition has multidimensional implications... In its metaphysical and physical connotation, Heaven... refers to... Nature. Applied in the spiritual realm, it signifies an anthropomorphic Lord or a Supreme Being who presides in Heaven, and rules over or governs directly the spiritual and material worlds.

   2000, Yao Xinzhong, An Introduction to Confucianism, page 142

   It was not just the sky, but a god with wills and intentions, seen as sovereign of all... In fact, "Tian" was another reverent term to address the supreme god: "Heaven, for the help of the inferior people, made for them rulers, and made for them instructors" ("Great Declaration I" in the Book of History)...

   2018, Zhuo Xinping, Religious Faith of the Chinese, page 58

   Synonyms: Tian

6. uncommonA surname originating as a patronymic derived from Evan
7. rareA female given name from English of modern usage from the noun heaven.