angel
/ˈeɪ̯n.d͡ʒəl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms angels angeling angelling angeled angelled angell
- noun An incorporeal and holy or semidivine messenger from a deity or other divine entity, traditionally depicted as a youthful, winged figure in flowing robes.
- noun (Abrahamic religion) One of the lowest order of such beings, below virtues.
- noun Someone who is pure or innocent.
- noun Someone who is kind or selfless. “Thanks for making me breakfast in bed, you little angel.”
- noun Someone, especially a woman or child, having youthful, wholesome, or radiant beauty.
- noun (obsolete) Attendant spirit; genius; demon.
- noun (possibly obsolete) An official (a bishop, or sometimes a minister) who heads a Christian church, especially a Catholic Apostolic Church.
- noun (historical) An English gold coin, bearing the figure of the archangel Michael, circulated between the 15th and 17th centuries, and varying in value from six shillings and eightpence to ten shillings.
- verb (transitive, theater, slang) To support by donating money.
- noun (informal) A person who has Angelman syndrome; often capitalized.
- noun (baseball) A player on the team the "Los Angeles Angels" or one of its predecessor "Angels" teams. “Smith became an Angel as a result of a pre-season trade.”
- proper noun A male given name
- proper noun A male given name, variant of Angelo
- proper noun A male given name from Latin Angelus [in turn from Ancient Greek], used since 16th century
- proper noun A male given name from Spanish Ángel, as an anglicization
- proper noun A female given name, variant of Angela
- proper noun A female given name from English, of modern usage, from the English noun angel.
- proper noun A surname
- proper noun A surname transferred from the nickname originating as a nickname
Synonyms
errand-ghost angel-noble backer saint holy man holy person Angel Falls
Etymology
Two Baroque angels from southern Germany, from the mid-18th century
Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos)bor.
From Middle English aungel, angel, from Old English anġel, either a modification of enġel after its etymon Latin angelus (through the intermediate of Proto-West Germanic *angil) or a reborrowing from the Latin, which is in turn from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”); later reinforced by Anglo-Norman angele, angel, from the same Latin source. The religious sense of the Greek word first appeared in the Septuagint as a translation of the Hebrew word מַלְאָךְ (malʾāḵ, “messenger”) or מַלְאַךְ יהוה (malʾāḵ YHWH, “messenger of YHWH”). Doublet of Angelus.
Use of the term in some churches to refer to a church official derives from interpreting the "angels" of the Seven churches of Asia in Revelation as being bishops or ministers rather than angelic beings.
Clipping of Angelman.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A messenger. [R.]
- noun A spiritual, celestial being, superior to man in power and intelligence. In the Scriptures the angels appear as God's messengers.
Etymology [AS. æangel, engel, influenced by OF. angele, angle, F. ange. Both the AS. and the OF. words are from L. angelus, Gr. 1. A messenger. [R.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “angel”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details