Celestial

See also: celestial and Célestial

English

Alternative forms

• celestial

Etymology

From the Celestial Empire, a colloquialism for the Chinese Empire / Empire of China / Imperial China.

Noun

Celestial (plural Celestials)

1. (historical) a person from the Celestial Empire (usually associated with the period of the Qing Dynasty)
   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 256:

     However, with true Celestial pertinacity, `John' has stuck to his work.

   • 1912, Northern China, The Valley of the Blue River, Korea‎^[1], Hachette & Company, →OCLC, page 255‎^[2]:

     Kharbin […]
     It is quite a modern Russian town having been founded in 1899 as a centre for the administration of the East China Railyway and the civil and military control of Manchuria. The Celestials call it Ha-êrh-pin. The city was officially opened to international trade on the 14th January 1907, in accordance with the terms of the Chino-Japanese treaty of the 22nd December 1905.

   • 1952 January 25, “HISTORY: Ing ‘Doc’ Hay is dead”, in Blue Mountain Eagle‎^[3]:

     The Celestial was a smart old coot, too. I recall a cowboy who had a violent toothache, went in to try and fool him and told ‘Doc’ Hay he was plenty sick, […]

Synonyms

• Chinese
• Chinaman
• Qing (when referring to Qing China)
• Ching (when referring to the Qing Empire)
• Ch'ing (when referring to the Qing Dynasty)

Descendants

• French: Célestial

Anagrams

• cistellae

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish Celestial, from celestial.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /selestiˈal/ [sɛ.lɛsˈt͡ʃal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: Ce‧les‧ti‧al
• Homophone: selestiyal

Proper noun

Celestiál (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜎᜒᜐ᜔ᜆᜒᜌᜎ᜔)

1. a surname from Spanish

Related terms

• selestiyal