Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

heaven

/ˈhɛvən/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.58 in modern English

Syllables
heav-en
IPA
/ˈhɛvən/
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The sky, specifically:

Countable; Dated; Uncountable

noun

The sky, specifically:

Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable

noun

The sky, specifically:

Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable

noun

The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

From a wide variety of Middle English forms including hevene, heven, hevin, and hewin (“heaven, sky”), from Old English heofon, heofone (“heaven, sky”), from Proto-West Germanic *hebn (“heaven, sky”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots heiven, hewin (“heaven, sky”), Middle Dutch heven (“sky, heaven”), Low German Heven (“heaven, sky”), and possibly the rare Icelandic and Old Norse hifinn (“heaven, sky”), which are all probably dissimilated forms of the Germanic root which appears in Old Norse himinn (“heaven, sky”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (himins, “heaven, sky”), Old Swedish himin, Old Danish himæn and probably also (in another variant form) Old Saxon himil, Old Dutch himil (modern Dutch hemel), and Old High German himil (German Himmel). Accepting these as cognates, some scholars propose a further derivation from Proto-Germanic *himinaz (“cover, cloud cover, firmament, sky, heaven”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: -, heofon, *hebun, *himinaz

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Astronomy.

Inflected Forms

heavens (plural) heav'n (alternative, poetic) heavens (present, singular) heavening (participle, present) heavened (participle, past) heavened (past) more heaven (comparative) most heaven (superlative)

Derived Forms

cyberheaven heavenful heavenhood heavenise heavenize heavenless heavenlike heavenly heaveno heavens heavenscape heavenward

Phrases

as high as heaven before heaven blue heaven breath of heaven by heaven cope of heaven die and go to heaven eye of heaven

Frequently Paired Words

heavenish heavenriche Nevaeh Providence Tian

Synonyms

Tian firmament sky welkin paradise kingdom come Xanadu Promised Land pearly gates delight dream

Antonyms

hell horror nightmare

Rhymes With

seven eleven devon evan bevan kevan leaven devan levan beavan evon kevin

Questions

How do you pronounce heaven?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhɛvən/.
What does heaven mean?
The sky, specifically:
Where does heaven come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce heaven

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “heaven”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈhɛvən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “heaven”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “heaven” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.