Etymograph

English

heaven

Heaven comes from Middle English heven, from Old English heofon ‘heaven, sky’, and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *hebun, of uncertain origin.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hebun1‘heaven, sky’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150heofon1‘heaven, sky’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heven1‘heaven, sky’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1535heaven1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English heaven
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1535, Coverdale Bible: “All that is vnder the heauen.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hebunWiktionary, English heaven‘heaven, sky’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150heofonWiktionary, English heaven‘heaven, sky’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hevenWiktionary, English heaven‘heaven, sky’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1535heavenWiktionary, English heaven. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1535, Coverdale Bible: “All that is vnder the heauen.”

The story

Accepting these as cognates, some scholars propose a further derivation from Proto-Germanic *himinaz (‘cover, cloud cover, firmament, sky, heaven’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun The sky, specifically: The distant sky in which the sun, moon, and stars appear or move; the firmament; the celestial spheres.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “heaven”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *hebun / heaven