firmāmentum
Meaning
- A strengthening, support, prop, stay.
- The firmament; the sky fixed above the earth.
Et fecit Deus firmamentum divisitque aquas, quae erant sub firmamento, ab his, quae erant super firmamentum. [8] Vocavitque Deus firmamentum Caelum.
And God made the firmament and divided the waters, that were under the firmament, from those, that were above the firmament. [8] And God called the firmament the sky.Vulgate: Genesis 1,7-8 - The main point or crux (of an argument).
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | firmāmentum | firmāmenta |
| genitive | firmāmentī | firmāmentōrum |
| dative | firmāmentō | firmāmentīs |
| accusative | firmāmentum | firmāmenta |
| ablative | firmāmentō | firmāmentīs |
| vocative | firmāmentum | firmāmenta |
transversaria tigna iniciuntur, quae firmamento esse possint, Caes. B. C. 2, 15, 2: ossa nervique et articuli, firmamenta totius corporis, Sen. de Ira, 2, 1, 2: vincula et firmamenta membrorum, Gell. 13, 22, 9.—eum ordinem, qui exercet vectigalia, firmamentum ceterorum ordinum recte esse dicemus, Cic. de Imp. Pomp. 7, 17: firmamentum ac robur totius accusationis, id. Mur. 28, 58; cf.: multo plus firmamenti ac roboris, id. de Imp. Pomp. 4, 10: parum firmamenti et parum virium, id. Clu. 2, 5: rei publicae, id. Planc. 9, 23; cf.: imperii populi Romani, id. Phil. 3, 5, 13: stabilitatis constantiaeque fides est, id. Lael. 18, 65: dignitatis, id. Tusc. 4, 3, 7: honor sacerdotii firmamentum, potentiae adsumebatur, Tac. H. 5, 8: si ullum firmamentum in illo teste posuisses, Cic. Fl. 37, 92: legionem ex subsidiis in primam aciem firmamentum ducit, as a support, Liv. 29, 2, 9.—In plur.: Romulus cum haec egregia duo firmamenta rei publicae peperisset, auspicia et senatum, Cic. Rep. 2, 10.—Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Origins
From firmō (“strengthen”) + -mentum, from firmus (“firm”). Literally, “that which strengthens or supports”. The meaning of "a strengthening, support, prop", especially in the figurative sense (of an argument etc., τὸ συνέχον (tò sunékhon)) is classical, and frequently occurs in Cicero. Further details The cosmological sense is coined in the Vulgate in imitation of LXX στερέωμα (steréoma, “firm or solid structure”), which in turn translates Biblical Hebrew רקיע. Some have viewed this as a mistranslation and the modern New American Standard Bible translates this as "expanse" — based on a modern scientific bias. However, ancient Hebrews — including those who translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint or LXX) — understood this term to refer to solid material. Hence, the LXX στερέωμα (steréōma, “firm or solid structure”). The Hebrew רקיע (raqia), refers to a hard substance that has been hammered out by crafstmen (Exodus 39:3; Isaiah 40:19; compare Job 37:18, Exodus 24:10, Ezek. 1:22). Ancient Hebrews, in line with their Mesopotamian neighbors, understood the "firmament" or "sky" as a dome, over which was a layer of water, under which rotated the sun, moon, and stars (Gen. 1:6-8, 14-15). The Genesis creation account is accommodated to this pre-scientific understanding of the sky as a dome, with a layer of cosmic waters above and the stellar constellations below.
- Catalanfirmament
- Englishfirmament
- Frenchfirmament
- GermanFirmament
- Italianfirmamento
- Occitanfirmament
- Portuguesefirmamento
- Spanishfirmamento
- Corsicanfirmamentu
- Friulianfirmament
In English words that came into English from firmāmentum
- firmamentfirmāmentum