telestial

See also: Telestial

English

Etymology

Uncertain.

• Coined by Joseph Smith as a nonsensical blend of terrestrial +‎ celestial, which are the names of the other two degrees of glory.

• Possibly related to Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “at a distance, far away”), Ancient Greek τέλος (télos, “end, purpose”)

• Also possibly Latin tellus (“ground or earth”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: te‧les‧ti‧al
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /təˈlɛst͡ʃəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

telestial (not comparable)

1. (Mormonism) Of or pertaining to the lowest degree of glory.
   • 1835, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Doctrine and Covenants, 76:81:

     And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:telestial.

Derived terms

• telestial kingdom
• telestial glory

Related terms

• celestial (celestial kingdom)
• terrestrial (terrestrial kingdom)

Descendants

• → Tagalog: telestiyal

Translations

of or pertaining to the lowest degree of glory

• Finnish: telestinen
• French: téleste (fr)
• Spanish: telestial m or f

References

• Kevin Barney (27 January 2010), “The Etymology of 'Telestial'”, in By Common Consent‎^[1], archived from the original on 28 November 2025
• Richard D. Draper (September 1999), “New Light on Paul's Teachings”, in Ensign‎^[2], volume 29, number 9, archived from the original on 4 December 2018, page 22

Anagrams

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