empyreus

empyreus is an adjective in English derived from Latin empyreus, used to describe something related to the empyrean, the highest heaven or celestial realm. In traditional usage, it conveys attributes of loftiness, radiance, or divine fire.

The term originates in ancient Greek, from empyrios meaning "in fire," itself from pyros meaning fire. Through Latin, empyreus entered European languages to label the celestial or heavenly, especially in religious or poetic contexts.

In medieval and early modern cosmology, the empyrean was conceived as the outermost heaven, a realm of pure light where God and the blessed reside, beyond the ordered spheres of the cosmos.

In literature, the term appears in poetry and prose to evoke the celestial or the divine, particularly in early modern and religious writings. Dante's Divine Comedy uses the Empyrean as the luminous, transcendent heaven beyond the celestial spheres.

Today, empyreus is rarely used in everyday English; empyrean is more common for describing the celestial realm or heavenly radiance. The terms are primarily encountered in historical, theological, or literary contexts.