Dictionary

heavenriche en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhɛvənrɪt͡ʃ/

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (literary, uncountable) The kingdom of heaven; heaven.
   • 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:
   • For, at the end, it taketh away the joy of heaven-ric. 1838, Edwin Guest, A History of English Rhythms Vol. II, page 331:
   • 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:

Forms