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firmament - 5 dictionary results

fir⋅ma⋅ment

  [fur-muh-muhnt]
Use firmament in a Sentence
–noun
the vault of heaven; sky.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < LL firmāmentum sky, L: support, prop, stay, equiv. to firmā(re) to strengthen, support (see firm 2 ) + -mentum -ment

Related forms:
fir⋅ma⋅men⋅tal  [fur-muh-men-tl] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fir·ma·ment   (fûr'mə-mənt)   
n.  The vault or expanse of the heavens; the sky.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin firmāmentum, from Latin, support, from firmāre, to strengthen; see firm2.]
fir'ma·ment'al (-měn'tl) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Firmament

Fir"ma*ment\, n. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]

1. Fixed foundation; established basis. [Obs.]

Custom is the . . . firmament of the law. --Jer. Taylor.

2. The region of the air; the sky or heavens.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. --Gen. i. 6.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament. --Gen. i. 14.

Note: In Scripture, the word denotes an expanse, a wide extent; the great arch or expanse over out heads, in which are placed the atmosphere and the clouds, and in which the stars appear to be placed, and are really seen.

3. (Old Astron.) The orb of the fixed stars; the most rmote of the celestial spheres.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : firmament
Spanish: firmamento,
German: das Firmament,
Japanese: 天空
More Translations »

firmament 
c.1250, from L. firmamentum "firmament," lit. "a support or strengthening," from firmus "firm" (see firm (adj.)), used in Vulgate to translate Gk. stereoma "firm or solid structure," which translated Heb. raqia, a word used of both the vault of the sky and the floor of the earth in the O.T., probably lit. "expanse," from raqa "to spread out," but in Syriac meaning "to make firm or solid," hence the erroneous translation.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Firmament

from the Vulgate firmamentum, which is used as the translation of the Hebrew _raki'a_. This word means simply "expansion." It denotes the space or expanse like an arch appearing immediately above us. They who rendered _raki'a_ by firmamentum regarded it as a solid body. The language of Scripture is not scientific but popular, and hence we read of the sun rising and setting, and also here the use of this particular word. It is plain that it was used to denote solidity as well as expansion. It formed a division between the waters above and the waters below (Gen. 1:7). The _raki'a_ supported the upper reservoir (Ps. 148:4). It was the support also of the heavenly bodies (Gen. 1:14), and is spoken of as having "windows" and "doors" (Gen. 7:11; Isa. 24:18; Mal. 3:10) through which the rain and snow might descend.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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