hevene
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
- efne, even, evne, heaven, hefne, heoven, heovene, heven, hevyn, hewn, hewne
- hæfene, hæfne, hæven, heffne, heofen, heofne, heofon, hoven (Early Middle English)
- heeven, hefen, heiven, heivin, hevin, hewuyn, heyven, hewen, hewyn (Northern)
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old English heofon, from Proto-West Germanic *hebun.
Forms without a final vowel are from the Old English a-stem variant, while forms with one continue weak (n-stem) heofone or are generalised from the Old English ō-stem accusative or the genitive or dative of both variants.
Pronunciation edit
Proper noun edit
hevene (genitive hevenes or hevene)
- Heaven; a divine realm or positive afterlife.
- c. 1379, Geoffrey Chaucer, The House of Fame, section 164:
- Venus...Doun fro the heven gan descende.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- c. 1382, Wycliffe's Bible, Jeremiah 7:18:
- Thei make sweete cakis to the quen of heuene [Astarte]
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
References edit
- “hē̆ven, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Noun edit
hevene (plural hevenes or (early) hevenen, genitive hevenes or hevene)
- The heavens; the cosmos surrounding the Earth, especially:
- (in medieval cosmology) A layer of the cosmos; one of the celestial spheres.
- The entirety of the sky; the atmosphere.
- c. 1382, Wycliffe's Bible, Job 35:11:
- The bestis of the erthe...the foulis of heuene
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- c. 1382, Wycliffe's Bible, Job 35:11:
- Outer space; the abode of the stars.
- (figuratively) A serene or heavenly locale or experience.
- c. 1385, Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, II l 826:
- It an heuene was hire voys to here.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (figuratively, rare) A serene or heavenly person.
Descendants edit
References edit
- “hē̆ven, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.