heavenriche

H4E1A1V4E1N1R1I1C3H4E1
/ˈhɛvənrɪt͡ʃ/

noun

The kingdom of heaven; heaven.

Scrabble 22

Meanings

nounheavenriche (uncountable)

alternative heaven-ric · alternative heavenric

  1. literaryuncountableThe kingdom of heaven; heaven.

    For, at the end, it taketh away the joy of heaven-ric.

    1838, Edwin Guest, A History of English Rhythms Vol. II, page 331
    3 more examples

    The poet Samuel Coleridge used heavenriche to describe the sky, the place where nimbification or cloud-forming occurs.

    2012, Phil Cousineau, Painted Word: A Treasure Chest of Remarkable Words and Their Origins, Viva Editions, →ISBN, page 395

    This word is contained in the first line of Cæd- mon's Hymn, and in its ancient spelling appears as hefaenricaes. What is the meaning of hefaenricaes? In modern English it would appear as heavenric's, the possessive of heavenric, a word which would be akin in formation to bishopric.

    1892, Albert Stanburrough Cook, editor, The Bible and English Prose: Style Selections and Comments, D. C. Heath

    heavenric. The kingdom of heaven; heaven as the abode of the blessed. Anglo-Saxon heofona rice, kingdom of the heavens. (German Reich, kingdom.) Also heavenrich, heovenryke. Used into the 15th century. In THE LAND OF COCKAYNE (13th century) heavenriche is used for the sky.

    1955, Joseph T. Shipley, Dictionary of Early English, Philosophical Library, →ISBN, page 326

Origin

  1. Middle Englishheveneriche
  2. Englishheavenriche

Probably a calque of Middle English heveneriche or Old English heofonrīce, equivalent to heaven + ric (“kingdom, realm, rule”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

heavenriche. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavenriche

MLA

“heavenriche.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavenriche. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heavenriche,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavenriche.

Source: heavenriche on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.