firmament

noun

1. (also, figuratively, literary, poetic, uncountable, usually)The vault of the heavens, where the clouds, sun, moon, and stars can be seen; the heavens, the sky.

   “And thei that be wiſe, ſhal ſhine, as the brightnes of the firmament: & they that turne to righteouſnes, ſhal ſhine as the ſtarres, for euer and euer.”

   “[T]his moſt excellent Canopie the ayre, looke you, this braue orehanging firmament, this maieſticall roofe fretted with golden fire, why it appeareth nothing to me but a foule and peſtilent congregation of vapoures.”

   “Now to ye all, be firmaments to ſtars, / Be ſtars to Firmaments, and as you are / Splendent, ſo be fixed, not wandring, nor / Irregular, both keeping courſe together, [...]”

   “And God ſaid, Let there be a firmament in the midſt of the waters: and let it diuide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament; and diuided the waters, which were under the firmament, from the waters, which were aboue the firmament: and it was ſo. And God called the firmament, Heauen: and the euening and the morning were the ſecond day.”

   “[W]hat if all / Her ſtores were op'n'd, and this Firmament / Of Hell ſhould ſpout her Cataracts of Fire, [...]”

2. (countable)The field or sphere of an activity or interest.

   “the international fashion firmament”

   “Europe dominated foreign policy concerns, followed by the Near East and China, where General George C[atlett] Marshall tried, in vain, to mediate a civil war. Japan glowed dimly in the foreign policy firmament.”

   “By this time, Seaford was a town of 2,000 people, and, in the next decade, the poultry industry became a rising star in the firmament of economic growth as new housing and feeding techniques were introduced.”

   “She [Anna Pavlova] provided articulate, well-thought-out and educational interviews and articles from her first appearances in which she would lay out her life story, the course of her training, the place of ballet in the European and Russian artistic firmaments.”

3. (historical, uncountable)In the geocentric Ptolemaic system, the eighth celestial sphere which carried the fixed stars; (countable, by extension) any celestial sphere.

   “[B]etweene the ſphere of Saturne and the Firmament, there is ſuch an incredible and vaſt ſpace or diſtance (7000000. ſemidiameters of the earth, as Tycho [Brahe] calculates) void of ſtarres: [...]”

   “But if we yet rise higher, and consider the fixed stars as so many vast oceans of flame, that are each of them attended with a different set of planets, and still discover new firmaments and new lights, that are sunk farther in those unfathomable depths of ether, so as not to be seen by the strongest of our telescopes, we are lost in such a labyrinth of suns and worlds, and confounded with the immensity and magnificence of nature.”

   “The World Cœlestial. Containing 11 Sphæres or Heavens, ſay the Theologians and Aſtronomers. [...] Theſe are called the Primum Mobile, the Chriſtaline Heaven, the Firmament adorned with the Fixed Stars, and the Heavens of the Seven Planets.”

4. (uncountable)The abode of God and the angels; heaven.

   “Praiſe ye the Lord. Praiſe God in his Sanctuarie: Praiſe him in the firmament of his power.”

5. (countable, obsolete)A piece of jewellery worn in a headdress with numerous gems resembling stars in the sky.

   “Pins tipt with Diamond Point, and head, / By which the Curls are faſtened, / In radiant Firmament ſet out, / And all over the Hood ſur-tout: [...]”

   “Firmament. Diamonds, or other precious Stones heading the Pins which they stick into the Tour, and Hair, like Stars.”

6. (also, countable, figuratively, obsolete)A basis or foundation; a support.

   “Ten years ago, the Wall Street wirehouse brokerage firm seemed unassailable – part of the very firmament underpinning the entire investment industry from coast to coast.”

7. (countable, obsolete)The act or process of making firm or strengthening.