heaven

noun heavens · heav'n

1. countable, dated, plural normally, poetic, uncountable The distant sky in which the sun, moon, and stars appear or move; the firmament; the celestial spheres. All that is vnder the heauen.
2. countable, obsolete, uncountable The near sky in which weather, flying animals, etc. appear; (obsolete) the atmosphere; the climate. Everie...Countrie, by the nature of the place, the climate of the Heaven, and the influence of the starres hath certaine vertues.
3. countable, obsolete, uncountable A model displaying the movement of the celestial bodies, an orrery. Euery man cannot, with Archimedes, make a heauen of brasse.
4. capitalized, countable, uncountable, usually The abode of God and of the angels and saints in His presence. And there was a battel in heauen. Michael & his Angels foght againſt the dragon, and the dragon foght & his Angels. But they preuailed not, nether was their place founde anie more in heauen.

   Similar: pearly gates

5. broadly, capitalized, countable, often, uncountable The abode of the Abrahamic God; similar abodes of the gods in other religions and traditions, such as Mount Olympus. With Ioue in heauen, or some where else.
6. broadly, capitalized, countable, uncountable, usually Providence, the will of God or the council of the gods; fate. […]he cannot thriue, Vnlesse her prayers, whom heauen delights to heare And loues to grant, repreeue him from the wrath Of greatest Iustice.
7. countable, uncountable The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically I wonder what your idea of heaven would be—A beautiful vacuum filled with wealthy monogamists, all powerful and members of the best families drinking themselves to death. And hell would probably be an ugly vacuum full of poor polygamists unable to obtain booze... To me heaven would be a big bull rin
8. countable, uncountable Paradise, the afterlife of the souls who are not sent to a place of punishment or purification such as hell, purgatory, or limbo; the state or condition of being in the presence of God after death. Teache the people to gett heuen with fastynge.

   Similar: paradise, kingdom come, Xanadu, Promised Land

9. broadly, capitalized, countable, often, uncountable The afterlife of the blessed dead in other religions and traditions, such as the Pure Land or Elysium. The belief in ascending to Heaven after death became widespread in the Han dynasty.
10. broadly, countable, uncountable Any paradise; any blissful place or experience. Ile follow thee and make a heauen of hell.

    Similar: delight, dream, paradise

11. broadly, countable, uncountable A state of bliss; a peaceful ecstasy. Husbandes are in heauen...whose wiues scold not.
12. countable, informal, uncountable, with a modifier Similarly blissful afterlives, places, or states for particular people, animals, or objects. Perhaps it has gone to the dog heaven, and is wagging somewhere in glory.

Similar: firmament, sky, welkin · Opposite: hell, horror, nightmare

verb heavens · heavening · heavened · heav'n

1. obsolete To transport to the abode of God, the gods, or the blessed. He heauens himselfe on earth, & for a litle pelfe cousens himselfe of blisse.
2. obsolete To beatify, enchant, or please greatly. They [Byron's Tales]...enraptured the public and heavened Murray.
3. obsolete To beautify, to make into a paradise.

adjective more heaven · most heaven · heav'n

1. obsolete Being heavenly.

proper noun

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 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.
2. Providence, the will of God or the gods, when considered as a personal entity or specific aspect of the divine; Fate ...but that the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs,
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.
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.
5. Chinese The supreme God or Nature which controls the universe. What Heaven has conferred is called the Nature...

   Similar: Tian

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.