firmament

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɜːməm(ə)nt/
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• General-American: /ˈfɝməmənt/
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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From Middle English firmament, furmament (“heaven; sky”), from Old French firmament (“firmament”), or from its etymon Latin firmāmentum (“support; sky”), from firmāre (“to strengthen”) + -mentum (suffix indicating an instrument or medium, or the result of an action). Firmāre is the present active infinitive of firmō (“to make firm, strengthen”), from firmus (“firm, strong, stable”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dher- (“to hold; to support”). The Latin word was used in the Vulgate version of the Bible to translate the Ancient Greek στερέωμα (steréōma, “foundation, framework; firmament”) in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), which in turn was used to translate the Hebrew רָקִיעַ (rāqī́aʿ, “celestial dome, vault of heaven”), from the root ר־ק־ע (r-q-`); in Classical Syriac the similar root ܪ ܩ ܥ (related to compacting) gave rise to ܪܩܝܥܐ (rəqīʿā, “compact; firm; firmament, heavens, sky; celestial sphere”).

114 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Amharic: ሰማይ (sämay) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Arabic: رَقِيع (raqīʕ) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Arabic: سماء (samāʔ) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Aramaic: רקיעא — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Aramaic: ܪܩܝܥܐ — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Armenian: ճախարակ (čaxarak) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Armenian: երկինք (erkinkʻ) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Armenian: երկնակամար (erknakamar) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Bashkir: күк көмбәҙе (kük kömbəźe) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Bulgarian: небосвод (nebosvod) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Catalan: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Chinese Mandarin: 蒼穹 /苍穹 (cāngqióng) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Chinese Mandarin: 蒼天 /苍天 (cāngtiān) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Chinese Mandarin: 昊天 (hàotiān) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Chinese Mandarin: 皓天 (hàotiān) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Chinese Mandarin: 穹蒼 /穹苍 (qióngcāng, qiōngcāng) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Chinese Mandarin: 穹宇 (qióngyǔ, qiōngyǔ) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Chinese Mandarin: 天空 (tiānkōng) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Chinese Mandarin: 霄漢 /霄汉 (xiāohàn) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Czech: nebeská klenba — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Czech: nebeská báň — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Czech: nebe — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Danish: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Dutch: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Dutch: gespan — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Dutch: hemelgespan — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Dutch: hemelgewelf — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Dutch: uitspansel — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Esperanto: firmaĵo — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Estonian: taevalaotus — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Estonian: taevavõlv — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Finnish: ilmankansi — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Finnish: taivaankansi — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• French: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Galician: firmamento — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Ge'ez: ሰማይ (sämay) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Georgian: ცა (ca) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Georgian: ცის თაღი (cis taɣi) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Georgian: ცის კამარა (cis ḳamara) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Georgian: ზეცა (zeca) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Georgian: ცის მყარი (cis mq̇ari) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• German: Firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• German: Feste — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Greek: στερέωμα (steréoma) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Hawaiian: lani — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Hebrew: רקיע (raki'a) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Hiligaynon: siélo — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Icelandic: andlangur — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Icelandic: festing — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Icelandic: himinhvel — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Icelandic: himinhvolf — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Icelandic: himinn — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Indonesian: cakrawala — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Irish: neamh — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Isoko: idedeghe — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Italian: firmamento — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Japanese: 穹蒼 (kyūsō) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Japanese: 大空 (ōzora) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Japanese: 天空 (tenkū) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Khmer: មេឃ (meik) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Korean: 창공 (changgong) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Ladino: פירמאמינטו (firmamento) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Latin: firmāmentum — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Latvian: debesjums — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Macedonian: не́босвод (nébosvod) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Macedonian: не́бесен свод (nébesen svod) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Middle English: lüft — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Nauruan: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Norwegian Bokmål: hvelving — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Norwegian Bokmål: himmelhvelv — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Norwegian Bokmål: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Norwegian Nynorsk: himmelkvelv — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Norwegian Nynorsk: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Occitan: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Old Church Slavonic: тврьдѣль (tvrĭdělĭ) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Old English: lyft — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Old English: staþol — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Old English: uprodor — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Persian: فلک (falak) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Polish: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Polish: nieboskłon — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Portuguese: firmamento — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Portuguese: alturas — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Russian: небе́сный свод (nebésnyj svod) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Russian: небосво́д (nebosvód) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Russian: твердь (tverdʹ) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Northern Sami: albmẹassi — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Sanskrit: अश्मन् (aśman) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Scottish Gaelic: iarmailt — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Serbo-Croatian: не̏бо — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Serbo-Croatian: ша̑р — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Serbo-Croatian: nȅbo — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Serbo-Croatian: šȃr — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Spanish: firmamento — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Swedish: firmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Swedish: fäste — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Swedish: himlavalv — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Tagalog: santinakpan — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Tamil: வானம் (vāṉam) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Tigrinya: ሰማይ (sämay) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Tocharian A: eprer — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Tumbuka: mlengalenga — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Turkish: felek — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Turkish: gökyüzü — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Ukrainian: твердь небесна (tverdʹ nebesna) — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Urhobo: irharheghe — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Vietnamese: bầu trời — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Vilamovian: fjyrmament — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Welsh: entrych nef — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Welsh: entrych nen — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Zulu: uḿkhathí — vault of the heavens — see also heavens, sky
• Finnish: ala — field or sphere of an activity or interest — see also field, sphere
• Greek: στερέωμα (steréoma) — field or sphere of an activity or interest — see also field, sphere
• Italian: firmamento — field or sphere of an activity or interest — see also field, sphere