Middle English Dictionary Entry
empīrī adj. and n.
Entry Info
| Forms | empīrī adj. and n. Also empire. |
| Etymology | ML (caelum) empyrium, fr. Gr.; OF empirée. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. emperien.
1.
Empyrean, empyreal; heven empiri, the highest of the heavenly spheres, which according to the ancients consisted of the element of fire, and became the abode of God and the angels in the Middle Ages.
Associated quotations
- c1350 Rabe moyses (Rwl D.939)350 : Þe wey of VII thowsond wyntur to þe seueþe heuene, And so forþ to heuene Empire.
- a1425(a1400) PConsc.(Glb E.9 & Hrl 4196)7761 : Þis heven es cald heven empiry, Þat es at say, heven þat es fyry..þar syttes þe haly trinite.
- a1450(c1433) Lydg.St.Edm.(Hrl 2278)24 : The cleernesse of the heuenly sterrys..Thempire abouen, that from vs so ffer ys.