Definition of "Heaven"

Heaven

proper noun
1. (religion) The abode of God or the gods, when considered as a specific location; the abode of the blessed departed who reside in the presence of God or the gods
  Quotations
  Conſider firſt that the excommunicated Prelate ſaith... Kings are not immediatly from God, as by any ſpeciall Ordinance ſent from Heaven by the miniſtery of Angels and Prophets, there were but ſome few ſuch, as Moſes, Saul, David, etc.
  1644, Samuel Rutherford, Lex, Rex: The Law and the Prince, V 16
  Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.
  1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
  Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.
  1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], Act III, page 39
  To grasp the Chinese's notion of Heaven, we must look at the contexts in which tian is used... In the Book of Odes (Shi jing 詩經), which includes poems dated between the eleventh and seventh centuries BCE, tian is a place where the Heavenly Thearch resides.
  2011, Lillian Tseng, Picturing Heaven in Early China, section 2
2. (religion) Providence, the will of God or the gods, when considered as a personal entity or specific aspect of the divine; Fate
  Quotations
  ...but that the willAnd high permission of all-ruling HeavenLeft him at large to his own dark designs,
  1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, line 212
  Heaven commands thine armTo lift the sure-destroying sword!
  1793, Henry Boyd, Poems, II iv 270
  ...executing the just judgment of offended Heaven upon cattle-houghers, traitors, and assassins.
  1886 May 8, The Pall Mall Gazette, 1 1
  Cosmologists regarded Heaven as a force—composed of qi (氣), which was divided into yin (陰) and yang (陽) aspects—that kept the cosmos moving.
  2011, Lillian Tseng, Picturing Heaven in Early China, section 3
3. (uncommon) Other extended senses of heaven as a specific place similar to the abode of God, the gods, or the blessed departed
  Quotations
  The mind is its own place, and in it selfCan make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
  1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, I 254-255
4. (obsolete) The sky, particularly its distant aspect as the abode of the sun, moon, and stars
  Quotations
  Everie...Countrie, by the nature of the place, the climate of the Heaven, and the influence of the starres hath certaine vertues.
  1581, Stefano Guazzo, translated by George Pettie, Ciuile Conuersation, I 26
  The Heauens...are carried in 24 houres from East to West.
  1625, Nathanæl Carpenter, Geography delineated forth in two bookes, I iv 77
5. (Chinese mythology, semantic translation of 天) The supreme God or Nature which controls the universe.
  Quotations
  What Heaven has conferred is called the Nature...
  1893, James Legge, transl., The Doctrine of the Mean‎
  ...‘Heaven’ as we use it throughout the book is only a convenient but inaccurate translation of the Chinese character tian. Heaven in Chinese religions as well as in the Confucian tradition has multidimensional implications... In its metaphysical and physical connotation, Heaven... refers to... Nature. Applied in the spiritual realm, it signifies an anthropomorphic Lord or a Supreme Being who presides in Heaven, and rules over or governs directly the spiritual and material worlds.
  2000, Yao Xinzhong, An Introduction to Confucianism, page 142
  It was not just the sky, but a god with wills and intentions, seen as sovereign of all... In fact, "Tian" was another reverent term to address the supreme god: "Heaven, for the help of the inferior people, made for them rulers, and made for them instructors" ("Great Declaration I" in the Book of History)...
  2018, Zhuo Xinping, Religious Faith of the Chinese, page 58
6. (uncommon) A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Evan
7. (rare) A female given name from English of modern usage from the noun heaven.