a. and sb. Also 6 empyrian, 7–8 empyræan. [f. as prec. + -AN.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to the sphere of fire or highest heaven. Also fig.
1614. Raleigh, Hist. World, I. 3. It pleased God first of all to create the Empyrean Heaven.
1682. Sir T. Browne, Chr. Mor. (1716), 93. The Pearl we seek for is not to be found in the Indian, but in the Empyrean Ocean.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 27. Above the starry sphere … finally the empyrean heaven, or heaven of heavens.
1805. Wordsw., Prelude, IV. (1850), 98. Drenched in empyrean light.
a. 1839. Praed, Poems (1864), II. 306. From the Courts of the Empyrean dome Came forth what seemed a fiery car.
B. sb.
1. The highest heaven. In ancient cosmology the sphere of the pure element of fire: in Christian use, the abode of God and the angels. Also fig.
1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 73. Divine Interpreter sent Down from the Empyrean.
1755. in Johnson.
1847. Ld. Lindsay, Chr. Art, I. Introd. 32. The empyrean, the first work of creation and the residence and throne of God.
1878. Newcomb, Pop. Astron., IV. 408. The empyrean, or kingdom of fire.
2. transf. a. The visible heavens or firmament. b. The whole extent of cosmic space.
1808. J. Barlow, Columb., IV. 456. O’er great, o’er small extends his physic laws, Empalms the empyrean.
1821. Craig, Lect. Drawing, v. 262. The vast empyrean of the sky.
1880. M. Pattison, Milton, xiii. 179. The physical universe itself [becomes] a drop suspended in the infinite empyrean.
