firmament

noun

fir·​ma·​ment ˈfər-mə-mənt 

1

: the vault or arch of the sky : heavens

Stars twinkled in the firmament.

2

obsolete : basis

3

: the field or sphere of an interest or activity

the international fashion firmament

She's a rising star in the city's artistic firmament.

firmamental

ˌfər-mə-ˈmen-tᵊl 

adjective

Synonyms

• blue
• heaven(s)
• high
• sky
• welkin

Examples of firmament in a Sentence

meteors flashing across the firmament

the stars in the firmament twinkled ever so brightly

Recent Examples on the Web

Shirley MacLaine, a longtime star in the movie-world firmament, opens up her personal photo gallery to the world. —Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024

First will come Avengers: Doomsday, though, which will hopefully root the character within the firmament of a single timeline’s history. —Darren Franich, Vulture, 31 July 2024

Within a few years, virtually nothing was left of it: an achievement no opponents of any comparable creed, world religions -- Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist -- occupying a similar position in the ideological firmament of their civilizations, have ever matched. —Pankaj Mishra, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2013

The invisible firmament is sustained not by the defiance of national sovereignty, as Srinivasan recommends, but by its clever manipulation. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin firmamentum, from Latin, support, from firmare

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

firmament

noun

fir·​ma·​ment ˈfər-mə-mənt 

: the arch of the sky : heavens