angelic comes from Old French angelique, from Late Latin angelicus, from Ancient Greek angelikos, from angelos ('messenger'), the rendering of Hebrew mal'akh ('messenger, angel'). The path is chiefly one of transmission: an older form is taken into English, with the word's shape and meaning carried through the language names and forms preserved in the history. In modern use, the adjective sense is "resembling or characteristic of an angel; sublimely good or beautiful", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as angel, angelical and derivatives such as angelically, angelicalness, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Ancient Greek angelikos, Ancient Greek angelos, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.