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Word a Day

empyrean

adjective · Level 4 · Expert

What does empyrean mean?

empyrean (adjective): of the sky or the heavens, and particularly relating to the highest celestial sphere in premodern cosmology; celestially refined.

Definition: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where does empyrean come from?

From Latin empȳreus, from Ancient Greek ἐμπύριος (empúrios), from ἐν (en, “in”) + πῦρ (pûr, “fire”) (whence English pyre).

Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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What does “empyrean” mean?

of the sky or the heavens, and particularly relating to the highest celestial sphere in premodern cosmology; celestially refined

Right! That's what “empyrean” means.

able to be hammered into thin sheets; capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer, or by the pressure of rollers

Not quite: that's what malleable means.

of a speech or piece of writing: overly complicated or elaborate; with grandiloquent expressions; marked by rhetorical elegance

Not quite: that's what flowery means.

of a person: having a tendency to become angry easily; bad-tempered, irritable; also, feeling or showing anger; angry, enraged

Not quite: that's what choleric means.

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