Definition of "heaven" in English

noun

1. The sky, specifically:

2. (religion) The abode of God or the gods, traditionally conceived as beyond the sky; especially:

3. (religion) The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:

   • I wonder what your idea of heaven would be—A beautiful vacuum filled with wealthy monogamists, all powerful and members of the best families drinking themselves to death. And hell would probably be an ugly vacuum full of poor polygamists unable to obtain booze... To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely houses in the town; one where I would have my wife and children and be monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors...

4. (by extension) Any paradise; any blissful place or experience.

   • England, that was formerly the heaven, would be now the hell for women.
   • Such a shop as that...would be quite a heaven upon earth to me.

5. (by extension) A state of bliss; a peaceful ecstasy.

   • Husbandes are in heauen...whose wiues scold not.

6. (informal, with a modifier) Similarly blissful afterlives, places, or states for particular people, animals, or objects.

verb

1. (obsolete) To transport to the abode of God, the gods, or the blessed.

2. (obsolete) To beatify, enchant, or please greatly.

3. (obsolete) To beautify, to make into a paradise.