oops
Here’s my understanding (following the rules, I haven’t looked at any other posts so far):
[SPOILER]Literally, having to do with the sky and the things in it, probably mostly stars and suchlike.
Figuratively, therefore, a descriptor for things that are high and remote above us ordinary people. [/SPOILER]
How’d I do?
Roddy
So when is the OP going to be back to explain the point of this seemingly pointless question?
Yeah, good question…
Thank you, Senegoid, for adding the third definition. I was going to, if no one else did.
[spoiler] pertaining to the sky, heavenly [spoiler]
There are probably many members who know of the historical use of the term
as an honorific adjective.
This is first time I ever heard of it as a related noun, and I would like to see
a pretty firm cite for that.
Here is what I thought the people in question have preferred to call themselves
for over two millenia:
Sons of Han (after the highly regarded dynasty of ca. 195BC-100AD)
I feel dumb because I can’t think of any synonyms, but I know it pertains to things that are in the sky, e.g. “celestial bodies.”
Of, or relating to, the sky. Although I know it also has connotations for a certain “level” of heaven as dictated by the LDS church.
I forgot to mention the first thing I think of when I hear the word, which is tea (specifically, Red Zinger, although I don’t know if Celestial Seasonings even makes that one any longer)
heavenly
Referring to the Heavens, as in “Celestial Mechanics” - the motions of the stars and planets.
Also used to imply great beauty and majesty.
I’ve long wondered why . . .
. . . China was called the “Celestial Empire”, but only now (and inspired by this top-secret almost-all-spoilered thread) I just googled it. Here is something I found:
One ancient name of China is Celestial Empire. China is not an empire anymore, but the name still exists in articles, stories, movies, and TV shows.
The name is a direct translation of Chinese term Tian Chao (天朝), namely empire of heaven. The origin of it can be traced back to the traditional religion of China. In China, heaven is often considered the highest deity. The emperors are the sons of the heaven (Tian Zi or 天子) and are born to govern the country. Sometime, the emperors are also considered as the human form of Chinese dragon (Loong, or 龙）. So the full name should be Zhen Loong Tian Zi (真龙天子，Real Dragon the Heaven’s Son）.
[/quote]
You’ve now seen dozens of responses. Explain already.
I can already see the explanation being lame, especially based on the very homogeneous set of responses. This is gonna be lame.
Posted without recourse to a dictionary or reading any other posts.
“Celestial” means related to the heavens/the sky. It can have religious overtones (“celestial beings”) or it can be related to the science of astronomy (“celestial objects”).
Wikipedia and Merriam-Webster not good enough for you?
I knew it from a TV show on a related historical topic. But the provenance is not doubtful if you know the phrase Mandate of Heaven and All Under Heaven
My first thought was “of the heavens,” but I’d also say having to do with stars or the night sky.
Heavenly Body, or outer space
Thanks, everyone who participated.
Having kept you waiting a whole day :eek: it’s time to explain the point of the question.
I am a fan of the British TV show Doctor Who. Way back in 1966 they had a story called The Celestial Toymaker. It had a plot similar to Star Trek’s The Squire Of Gothos, but was shown several months earlier. The plot is that an alien being with god-like powers captures the travelers and wants to make them into toys to play with.
There is currently an argument going on among Doctor Who fans whether the titular Toymaker is an offensive racial stereotype. This based upon 1) he wears a Chinese robe 2) he is called Celestial. Against that is the fact that he’s explicitly an alien, that he’s played by an English actor, he doesn’t wear “yellowface” , and he speaks in BBC English.
Now, one meaning of the word Celestialis Chinese. One I’d never heard of until a few days ago. Basically, I wanted to see how many people would think of Chinese when seeing the word Celestial.
Results, one person thought of it without looking it up, and one other guessed what it was about after consulting a dictionary. Which is about what I’d expected. But I wanted to test my hypothesis.
How many of you have even heard of that meaning before?
[spoiler]
In English, heavenly, which also refers to “skily” only that’s not an actual English word or wasn’t until this sentence.
In Spanish and Catalan, heaven and sky are both el cielo/el cel, and celestial refers to both.
So in any case, those entities which belong/come from/are related to heaven/the sky.[/spoiler]
I’d heard references to “the celestial empire”, but I would have said that the whole expression refers to China, rather than that celestial by itself does.