firmament

English from the 13th century. Borrowed from Latin firmāmentum (from firmō (“strengthen”), from firmus (“firm”)), literally "that which strengthens or supports". The term is coined in the Vulgata in imitation of LXX στερέωμα (steréōma, “firm or solid structure”), which in turn translates Hebrew רקיע‎, strictly speaking a mistranslation, as the original Hebrew term meant "expanse", from the root רקע‎ "to spread out", which in Syriac had acquired the meaning "to make firm or solid".

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɜː(r)məmənt/

firmament (plural firmaments)

1. (uncountable) The vault of the heavens; the sky.
   • 1611, King James Version, Genesis 1:6–8:

     And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven.

2. The field or sphere of an interest or activity.

   the international fashion firmament

3. A piece of jewelry meant to be worn in a headdress.
4. (archaic, old astronomy) In the geocentric Ptolemaic system, the eighth sphere, which carried the fixed stars.
5. (obsolete) A foundation; support; basis.
6. (obsolete) The act or process of making firm or strengthening.

• “firmament” in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.

• Firmament in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

From Latin firmāmentum.

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /fiɾ.məˈment/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /fir.məˈmen/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /fiɾ.maˈment/

firmament m (plural firmaments)

1. firmament, heavens

• “firmament” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “firmament” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “firmament” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “firmament” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Latin firmāmentum.

• IPA^(key): /fiʁ.ma.mɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

firmament m (plural firmaments)

1. firmament

• “firmament” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From German Firmament, from Middle High German firmament, from Late Latin firmāmentum.

firmament

1. firmament

From Latin firmāmentum.

firmament m (plural firmaments)

1. firmament, heavens

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians, 2 edition, →ISBN, page 484.

Borrowed from Latin firmāmentum.

• IPA^(key): /fʲirˈma.mɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

firmament m inan

1. celestial sphere, heaven, sky
2. (archaic) foundation

• firmament in Polish dictionaries at PWN