celestial means of, relating to, or located in the sky or outer space, where the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars are visible. It carries an Arena rating of 1763, earned across 21 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, celestial ranks #694 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #828 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,155 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #4,241 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
celestial is pronounced /sɪˈlɛs.ti.əl/.
Why “celestial” is a great word
Of or pertaining to the sky or the heavens beyond. From Middle English, from Medieval Latin cēlestiālis, from Latin caelestis ("heavenly"), from caelum ("sky, heaven"), first recorded in English between 1350 and 1400. Unlike "terrestrial," which anchors us to soil and stone, or "astronomical," which denotes the cold machinery of measurement, celestial is the word of pure relation and longing. It is the silver chill of starlight on the skin, the silent arc of a planet against the void, and the hush that falls when a comet drags its burning hair across the dark—a word mapping the human gaze onto the immense vault where we, creatures of dust, persistently dream.
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English celestial (“relating to the heavens or sky; (Christianity) relating to heaven, divine, heavenly”), borrowed from Old French celestial (modern French céleste), from Medieval Latin caelestiālis (“celestial”), or directly from its etymon Latin caelestis (“of or in the heavens, heavenly; (figurative) of the gods, divine; etc.”), from caelum (“heaven; sky”) (ultimate etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilom (“whole”)) + -estris (suffix meaning ‘dwelling or located in’ forming adjectives from nouns). The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective. Adjective sense 2.2 (“of or relating to China”) and noun sense 3 (“native of China”) refer to Celestial Empire (a calque of Mandarin 天朝 (Tiāncháo, “(literary) the Chinese Emp
adj
- Of, relating to, or located in the sky or outer space, where the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars are visible.
- Of a nose: upturned, as if towards the sky.
- Of or relating to China; Chinese.
- Extremely beautiful, good, or pleasurable; divine, heavenly, wonderful.
- Of or relating to heaven as the place where deities (or the Christian God), spiritual beings, etc., exist; heavenly.
- Of or relating to heaven as the place where deities (or the Christian God), spiritual beings, etc., exist; heavenly.; Of or relating to one or more deities, or the Christian God; divine, heavenly.
- Of or relating to heaven as the place where deities (or the Christian God), spiritual beings, etc., exist; heavenly.; Of or relating to the celestial kingdom, the highest degree of glory.
- Coming from or having to do with Fredericton, New Brunswick.
adv
- Synonym of celestially (“in a celestial manner (adjective senses)”).
noun
- An inhabitant of heaven.
- A thing from heaven; also, a heavenly quality.
- A person who is extremely beautiful, of high status, or intelligent, etc.
- Sometimes in the form Celestial: a native of China; a Chinese person.
- a person from the Celestial Empire (usually associated with the period of the Qing Dynasty)e.g.“However, with true Celestial pertinacity, `John' has stuck to his work.” — 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 256:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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