welkin

Meanings

1. The sky which appears to an observer on the Earth as a dome in which celestial bodies are visible; the firmament.
2. The upper atmosphere occupied by clouds, flying birds, etc.
3. The place above the Earth where God or other deities live; heaven.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English welken, wolken (“weather; heavens; earlier cloud”), from Old English wolcnu (“sky, heavens”), plural form of wolcn (“cloud”), from Proto-West Germanic *wolkn (“cloud”), from Proto-Germanic *wulkną (“cloud”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥ɡ-no-m, from *welg- (“damp; wet”). Cognate with Dutch wolk (“cloud”), German Wolke (“cloud”).