firmament

noun

fir·​ma·​ment ˈfər-mə-mənt How to pronounce firmament (audio)
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 adjective

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 What Burn Book makes clear is that just like microprocessors, oddball founders, and VC pitch decks, Swisher is part of the firmament of the technology industry. Paolo Confino, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024 But what really emerged at Sundance this year were new stars in the indie firmament: many young and lesser-known actors breaking out in compelling roles. Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 29 Jan. 2024 So far, the plan seems to be limited to scolding Trump skeptics within the Republican firmament until their morale improves. Noah Rothman, National Review, 22 Jan. 2024 With his place in the pop-culture firmament cemented, Mr. Soul was able to make good on his longtime ambitions to be a pop star. Alex Williams, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2024 Blackpink, the multinational female music act that is the biggest girl group in the Korean pop (K-pop) firmament, may finally be close to renewing its collective contract with YG Entertainment. Patrick Frater, Variety, 20 Nov. 2023 After the birds, a comet appears on the far edge of the firmament, destined by its trajectory to destroy our planet. Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023 Its worldview, as French political scientist Gilles Kepel has documented, arose in the same intellectual firmament as German Nazism and Italian fascism. Ed Husain, WSJ, 9 Nov. 2023 For decades the Golden Horse awards had been the most prestigious prize ceremony in the Chinese-language firmament. Patrick Frater, Variety, 25 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'firmament.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of firmament was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near firmament

Cite this Entry

“Firmament.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/firmament. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

firmament

noun
fir·​ma·​ment ˈfər-mə-mənt How to pronounce firmament (audio)
: the arch of the sky : heavens

More from Merriam-Webster on firmament

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