celestial

Etymology

From Middle English celestial, from Old French celestial, from Medieval Latin caelestialis, from Latin caelestis, from caelum (“sky, heaven”). The meanings related to East Asia come from Celestial Empire, a former name of China.

adj

1. Synonym of heavenly: of or related to Heaven and the divine.
2. Relating to the sky or outer space, regarded as the realm of the sun, moon, planets, and stars.
3. (Mormonism) Of or pertaining to the highest degree of glory.
   We are now living and obeying celestial laws that will make us candidates for celestial glory. 1974 February, “A Sure Trumpet Sound: Quotations from President Lee”, in Ensign, page 77
   How will you make it through your teenage years spiritually prepared for your celestial future? How will you connect your celestial goals with your everyday life? 1997 November, Richard J. Maynes, “A Celestial Connection to Your Teenage Years”, in Ensign, page 30
4. Extremely good, pleasant, or blissful; heavenly.
   [Reader:] A really bad coconut is soooo yukky. But a really good coconut is so celestial. … If you can hear the milk sloshing inside, odds are you’ve got a celestial coconut rather than a yukky one. July 16, 1974, Cecil Adams, “The Straight Dope”, in Chicago Reader

noun

1. An inhabitant of heaven.
   For the celestials communicate by the psychic dispatch. Scriptures prove that. 1913, Horace Coffin Stanton, Telepathy of the Celestial World, page x
2. (obsolete, sometimes capitalized) A native of China.
   Three celestials died during the voyage, and, in accordance with the contract, their remains were embalmed and carried on to China. 1897, Joseph Llewelyn Thomas, “The North Pacific”, in Journeys Among the Gentle Japs in the Summer of 1895, page 23
3. (obsolete, slang) by extension, an East Asian person.