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 of firmament

• sky

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

The Friend Dog movies are a regular fixture of the cinematic firmament, but Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s drama, based on Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award–winning 2018 novel, distinguishes itself by not trying to anthropomorphize its central animal, to enter its mind and give it a voice. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025

Now, 23 years later, Art Basel and the surrounding bacchanalia of Miami Art Week are firmly ensconced, even if the contemporary art market has been in the doldrums, and the city seems to have secured its place in the art firmament – at least in December. —Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 Nov. 2025

An all-star cast plucked from different corners of the pop culture firmament leads Ryan Murphy's All's Fair, a Hulu legal drama about female divorce attorneys who open their own practice. —Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Nov. 2025

Forgetting Derry’s communal traumas is as much a part of the town’s firmament as the scenic canals, the nearby Air Force base where Charlotte’s hubby Leroy (Jovan Adepo) has been newly posted, and the dilapidated house at 29 Neibolt Street. —Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025

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