heaven

Pluralheavens

Formsheavens, heavening, heavened

1. 1
   where gods livenouncountable or uncountable

   In many religions, the place where God or the gods live and where the good go after death, as opposed to hell.

   Just as the Greeks set their gods on Olympus, many cultures imagine a heaven where the divine resides.

   She took comfort in believing that her father was now at peace in heaven.

   UsageUsually with no article: go to heaven, in heaven (not incorrect: go to the heaven).

   Similarparadise

   Oppositehell

   Note

   Once the word reaches beyond a single faith, it becomes countable: a tradition can have its own heaven, or several. Alexander Ross's 1649 Alcoran places Moses "in the fourth Heaven," and Charles Coleman writes in 1832 of the Jains' "plurality of heavens and hells." When a possessor follows, the article returns, as in Mountstuart Elphinstone's "The heaven of Siva." Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • The English Alcoran of Mahomet associated with Alexander Ross was published in 1649. en.wikisource.org
   • 1649 is the date printed on the English edition's title page. en.wikisource.org
   • The volume places Moses in the fourth Heaven; the passage occurs in its appended Life and Death of Mahomet. en.wiktionary.org
   • Charles Coleman's The Mythology of the Hindus was published in 1832. upload.wikimedia.org
   • Coleman uses the quoted phrase about the Jains in the section headed The Jainas. upload.wikimedia.org
   • Mountstuart Elphinstone uses the words The heaven of Siva in The History of India. ibiblio.org
2. 2
   paradise on earthnouncountable or uncountable

   A place, situation, or feeling of perfect happiness or delight, sometimes one suited to a particular kind of person.

   Sinking into a hot bath after a brutal week felt like heaven.

   For a book lover, the old library was absolute heaven.

   UsageCommon in heaven on earth and absolute heaven; it can take a: a heaven for book lovers.

   Similarbliss, paradise, ecstasy, delight

   Oppositehell, misery

   Note

   Its natural partner is hell. Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream has "Ile follow thee and make a heauen of hell," and Milton writes that the mind "Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n." The other fixed phrase is heaven on earth, as in Frances Burney's Cecilia (1782): "quite a heaven upon earth." Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream contains the quoted line, spoken by Helena. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
   • Milton wrote the quoted words about the mind in Paradise Lost, Book I; Satan speaks them. en.wikisource.org
   • Frances Burney wrote Cecilia. gutenberg.org
   • Cecilia was first published in 1782. en.wikipedia.org
   • Cecilia contains the exact phrase “quite a heaven upon earth”; Mrs Hill speaks it. gutenberg.org
3. 3
   nounliterarycountable or uncountable

   The sky, where the sun, moon, stars, clouds, and weather are seen; often plural, as in 'the heavens'.

   Dark clouds rolled in, and then the heavens opened over the stadium.

   All that is vnder the heauen.

   1535, Coverdale Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1

   UsageUsually the heavens; the heavens opened means heavy rain suddenly began.

   Similarsky, skies, firmament

   Note

   The oldest sense of the word: Old English heofon meant both "heaven" and "sky," from a Germanic source of uncertain origin. Today it is dated or poetic and usually plural, as in Shakespeare's "What obscured light the heauens did grant." Thomas Blundeville in 1594 still describes the heaven as nested spheres, with the eighth, "the fixed Starres," called the firmament. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

   • The sky meaning is the oldest sense. en.wikipedia.org
   • Old English heofon meant both heaven and sky and came from a Germanic source of uncertain origin. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quotation is Shakespeare's; Egeon speaks it in The Comedy of Errors, Act I, scene i. shakespeare.mit.edu
   • The quoted historical spelling is attested. en.wiktionary.org
   • Thomas Blundeville's Exercises was published in 1594. ota.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
   • Blundeville describes ascending celestial spheres and calls the eighth, containing the fixed stars, the firmament. en.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   God's willnouncountable or uncountable

   Providence; the will of God or the collective decision of the gods; fate as determined by divine powers.

   He trusted that heaven would set things right in the end.

   The general claimed heaven itself favored his cause.

   Similarprovidence, fate

   Note

   Here the word acts like a person: it commands, rules, and delights to hear prayers. Henry Boyd writes "Heaven commands thine arm" in 1793, and the King James Bible of 1611 has "the heauens doe rule." The capital usually given to God's dwelling place carries over, because Heaven stands in for the divine will itself. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Heaven is personified as commanding, ruling, and delighting to hear prayers. shakespeare.mit.edu
   • Henry Boyd wrote the quoted words. en.wiktionary.org
   • The 1611 King James Bible contains the quoted wording, in Daniel 4:26. en.wiktionary.org

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