heofon

Middle English

Proper noun

heofon

  1. (Early Middle English) alternative form of hevene

Noun

heofon

  1. (Early Middle English) alternative form of hevene

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hebn. Probably related to both Proto-West Germanic *himil and Proto-Germanic *himinaz, but the origins of the relationship are mysterious.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈxe͜o.fon/, [ˈhe͜o.von]
  • Rhymes: -e͜o.fon

Noun

heofon m or f

  1. sky
  2. heaven
    • 996–997, Ælfric of Eynsham, edited and translated by Rev. Walter W. Skeat, M.A., Aelfric's Lives of Saints (Early English Text Society original series 82), volume I, London: N. Trübner & Co., published 1885, page 316:
      Æfter þisum ġebede, bærst ūt of heofonum swȳþe fǣrlīċ fȳr and forbernde þæt templ, and ealle þā godas grundlunga suncon intō þǣre eorþan, and ne ætēowdon siþþan.
      After this prayer, a very sudden fire burst out of the heavens and burned up the temple, and all the gods sunk completely into the earth, and have not appeared since.
  3. ceiling

Usage notes

  • Heofon is consistently strong and masculine in early Old English (up to c. 950), but in late Old English it is usually feminine, often as weak heofone.
  • The meaning heaven, like certain locations or abstract concepts, does not use the definite article. The meaning sky uses the definite article most of the time when singular, though there are a fair number of apparently interchangeable exceptions.
  • There is some overlap between the usage of this word and lyft (“air, sky”). See there for more.

Declension

masculine

Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative heofon heofonas
accusative heofon heofonas
genitive heofones heofona
dative heofone heofonum
feminine

Strong ō-stem:

singular plural
nominative heofon heofona, heofone
accusative heofone heofona, heofone
genitive heofone heofona
dative heofone heofonum

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: hevene
    • English: heaven, Heaven
    • Scots: heiven, Heiven
    • Yola: heaaven, heoven
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