Word of the Day

Tuesday, April 11, 2000

firmament

\FUR-muh-muhnt\ , noun;

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

The field or sphere of an interest or activity.

Quotes:

But to judge by the twinkling summer stars that filled the firmament, the dawn was still far off.

-- A. B. Yehoshua, A Journey to the End of the Millennium

Studying the firmament--the night vault that sparkles with thousands of flickering lights--is older than recorded history.

-- William E. Burrows, This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age

The glossy magazines have branded her a rising star, shooting up into the firmament of mega fashion stardom.

-- Hadley Freeman, "If I see one more black suit, I'll want to roll over and die", The Guardian, December 14, 2001

Origin:

Firmament comes from Late Latin firmamentum, "firmness, the sky," from Latin firmare, "to make firm."