angel

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A spiritual being believed to serve God, often shown with wings.

   The painting showed an angel with golden wings.

2. 2
   noun

   A very kind, good, or helpful person.

   Thank you for helping me move the furniture — you're an angel.

3. 3
   noun

   A person who gives money to support a new business or project.

   The film was only made possible thanks to a generous angel.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Angel has been used in English since Old English and comes ultimately from Greek angelos, “messenger,” reflecting the angel's role as a divine messenger. The plant name angelica, recorded from the early 16th century, means “angelic herb” and refers to its former reputation as a remedy against poison and disease.

Two Baroque angels from southern Germany, from the mid-18th century 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 מַלְאָךְ יהוה (malʾāḵ YHWH, “messeng…

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External links

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