See Also: welkin(dictionary)

welkin (iou)



welkin noun. Long only poet.
[Old English weolcen, wolc(e)n, corresp. to Old Frisian wolken, wulken, Old Saxon, Old High German wolkan (Dutch wolk, German Wolke).]
A cloud. OE-ME.
a. The vault formed by the sky, the firmament. OE.
Sir W. Scott If a sail but gleam'd white 'gainst the welkin blue.
b. spec. The abode of God or the gods; the celestial regions, heaven. M16.
In Ptolemaic astronomy: a celestial sphere. Only in ME.
The upper atmosphere; the region of the air in which the clouds float, birds fly, etc. LME.
Phrases & comb.: make the welkin ring, rend the welkin make a very loud sound. welkin-eye (rare, Shakes.) a heavenly or blue eye.