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The firmament is the sky, or heaven — not the weather, but the great bowl of the sky above us. It is an old, high word from books and from the Bible.
The firmament isfirmament 指的是the sky, or heaven天空，或天堂not the weather不是天氣but而是the great bowl of the sky above us我們頭上那一整片如穹頂般的天空It is an old, high word這是一個古老、高雅的字from books and from the Bible來自書本和聖經
In the Latin Bible, firmamentum was used to translate a Greek word for a solid framework, because the old picture of the world was that the sky was a hard dome stretched over the earth, holding back waters above. The Latin word comes from a verb meaning “to make firm, to strengthen,” from an adjective meaning “firm, strong, stable.” English took it through Old French and Middle English.
In the Latin Bible在拉丁文聖經裡firmamentum was used to translatefirmamentum 被用來翻譯a Greek word for a solid framework一個意思是堅實架構的希臘字because因為the old picture of the world was古代人對世界的想像是that the sky was a hard dome stretched over the earth天空是一個撐在大地上方的堅硬圓頂holding back waters above把上面的水擋住The Latin word comes from這個拉丁字來自a verb meaning "to make firm, to strengthen,"一個意思是「使堅固、加強」的動詞from an adjective meaning "firm, strong, stable."而這個動詞來自一個意思是「堅固、強壯、穩定」的形容詞English took it through Old French and Middle English英文透過古法文和中古英文吸收了這個字
Today almost nobody says firmament when they mean “look at the sky.” Poets, church language, and people making a grand joke still use it.
Today almost nobody says現在幾乎沒有人會用firmamentfirmament 這個字when they mean來說"look at the sky."「你看天空」Poets, church language, and people making a grand joke詩人、教會用語，還有故意講得誇張搞笑的人still use it還是會用這個字
If you say it in ordinary talk, you sound as if you have opened an old book. That is useful: the meaning is sky or heaven, but the feeling is high and old.
If you say it in ordinary talk如果你在平常講話裡說這個字you sound as if聽起來會像you have opened an old book剛打開一本舊書That is useful這一點很有用the meaning is sky or heaven意思是天空或天堂but the feeling is但語感是high and old高雅又古老
組成Not an English compound. From Middle English firmament, from Old French firmament or Latin firmāmentum (“a support; the sky”), from firmāre (“to make firm, strengthen”) + -mentum (a means or a result). Firmāre is from firmus (“firm, strong, stable”). Latin used it in the Vulgate Bible to translate Greek στερέωμα (steréōma, “foundation, framework; firmament”).
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
firmamentnoun/ˈfɜːməm(ə)nt/
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literaryThe vault of the heavens, where the clouds, sun, moon, and stars can be seen; the heavens, the sky.
- And thei that be wiſe, ſhal ſhine, as the brightnes of the firmament: & they that turne to righteouſnes, ſhal ſhine as the ſtarres, for euer and euer.
- [T]his moſt excellent Canopie the ayre, looke you, this braue orehanging firmament, this maieſticall roofe fretted with golden fire, why it appeareth nothing to me but a foule and peſtilent congregation of vapoures.
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The field or sphere of an activity or interest.
- the international fashion firmament
- Europe dominated foreign policy concerns, followed by the Near East and China, where General George C[atlett] Marshall tried, in vain, to mediate a civil war. Japan glowed dimly in the foreign policy firmament.
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historicalastronomynatural-sciencesIn the geocentric Ptolemaic system, the eighth celestial sphere which carried the fixed stars; (countable, by extension) any celestial sphere.
- [B]etweene the ſphere of Saturne and the Firmament, there is ſuch an incredible and vaſt ſpace or diſtance (7000000. ſemidiameters of the earth, as Tycho [Brahe] calculates) void of ſtarres: [...]
- But if we yet rise higher, and consider the fixed stars as so many vast oceans of flame, that are each of them attended with a different set of planets, and still discover new firmaments and new lights, that are sunk farther in those unfathomable depths of ether, so as not to be seen by the strongest of our telescopes, we are lost in such a labyrinth of suns and worlds, and confounded with the immensity and magnificence of nature.
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The abode of God and the angels; heaven.
- Praiſe ye the Lord. Praiſe God in his Sanctuarie: Praiſe him in the firmament of his power.
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obsoleteA piece of jewellery worn in a headdress with numerous gems resembling stars in the sky.
- Pins tipt with Diamond Point, and head, / By which the Curls are faſtened, / In radiant Firmament ſet out, / And all over the Hood ſur-tout: [...]
- Firmament. Diamonds, or other precious Stones heading the Pins which they stick into the Tour, and Hair, like Stars.
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obsoleteA basis or foundation; a support.
- Ten years ago, the Wall Street wirehouse brokerage firm seemed unassailable – part of the very firmament underpinning the entire investment industry from coast to coast.
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obsoleteThe act or process of making firm or strengthening.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。