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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

Heaven en · PROPN

Etymology

See heaven.

Meanings

  1. The 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
    • 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:
    • 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:
    • 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:
    • 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:
  2. Providence, 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:
    • ...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:
    • 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:
    • ...executing the just judgment of offended Heaven upon cattle-houghers, traitors, and assassins. 1886 May 8, The Pall Mall Gazette, 1 1:
  3. (uncommon) Other 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. (obsolete) The sky, particularly its distant aspect as the abode of the sun, moon, and stars
    • 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 Heauens...are carried in 24 houres from East to West. 1625, Nathanæl Carpenter, Geography delineated forth in two bookes, I iv 77:
  5. (Chinese) The 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:
    • 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:
    • ...‘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:
  6. (uncommon) A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Evan
  7. (rare) A female given name from English of modern usage from the noun heaven.

Deriveds

Mandate of Heaven · Kingdom of Heaven · Heavenese · for Heaven's sake · Temple of Heaven · Heavenly · Son of Heaven · Queen of Heaven

Relateds

Providence · Tian · Nevaeh

Synonyms

Tian