French word

firmament

Pronunciation

IPA/fiʁmamɑ̃/

Meaning

  • masculine nounsky

Example

Sous le firmament, nous avons marché en silence.

Under the sky, we walked in silence.

Illustration for firmament (sky)

More examples

Nous avons levé les yeux vers le firmament.

We looked up toward the firmament.

Core concept

An immense upper sky pictured as a solid vault holding the stars above the earth.

Similar words

ciel: The expanse overhead as seen from Earth, especially when discussing weather or cloud cover.
espace: The vast area beyond the atmosphere surrounding Earth.

Definition in French

Ciel envisagé comme une couche supérieure ou un dôme céleste, employé dans un langage soutenu ou liturgique.

Word origin

French firmament comes from Latin firmamentum, meaning 'support' or 'foundation', from firmare, meaning 'to make firm'.

Usage tips

  • Firmament is masculine, so the standard article is le, as in le firmament and sous le firmament.

Opposites

Word lists with this word