angel
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "angel"
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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From Middle English angel, aungel, ængel, engel, from Old English anġel, ænġel, enġel, enċġel (“angel, messenger”), from Proto-West Germanic *angil, borrowed from Latin angelus, itself from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”); and also in part from Anglo-Norman angele, angle, 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 יהוה מַלְאָךְ (malʾāḵ YHWH, “messenger of YHWH”).
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.
Alternative forms
Noun
angel (plural angels)
- An incorporeal and sometimes divine messenger from a deity, or other divine entity, often depicted in art as a youthful winged figure in flowing robes.
- 1641, Ben Jonson, The Sad Shepherd:
- The dear good angel of the Spring, / The nightingale.
- 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 50:
- There seemed to be girls sitting on top of them, or maybe they were meant to be angels. Angels are usually represented as wearing more than that, though.
- (Abrahamic tradition) One of the lowest order of such beings, below virtues.
- A person having the qualities attributed to angels, such as purity or selflessness.
- Thanks for making me breakfast in bed, you little angel.
- 2014 August 25, John Eligon, “Michael Brown Spent Last Weeks Grappling With Problems and Promise”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- Michael Brown, 18, due to be buried on Monday, was no angel, with public records and interviews with friends and family revealing both problems and promise in his young life.
- (obsolete) Attendant spirit; genius; demon.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene viii], page 151, column 1, lines 13–14:
- Diſpaire thy Charme, / And let the Angell whom thou ſtill haſt ſeru’d / Tell thee, Macduffe was from his Mothers womb / Vntimely ript.
- (possibly obsolete) An official (a bishop, or sometimes a minister) who heads a Christian church, especially a Catholic Apostolic Church.
- 1817, Thomas Stackhouse, A history of the holy Bible, corrected and improved by G. Gleig, page 504:
- An apostle, or angel, or bishop, as he is now called, resided with a college of presbyters about him, in every considerable city of the Roman empire; to that angel or bishop, was committed the pastoral care of all the Christian in the city and its suburbs, extending as far on all sides as the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate extended;
- 1832, Edward Irving, speech before the Presbytery of London, quoted in 1862, Margaret Oliphant, The Life of Edward Irving, Minister of the National Scotch Church, London: Illustrated by His Journals and Correspondence, page 429
- […] the head of that Church, in whose place I stand in my Church, and in whose place no other standeth (the elders and deacons have their place, but this belongeth to the angel or minister of the Church), and the Lord commendeth him for trying […]
- 1878, Edward Miller, The History and Doctrines of Irvingism Or of the So-called Catholic and Apostolic Church, § 9 Pastors, page 50 (discussing the structure of the early Christian church and of the Catholic Apostolic Church):
- The second or highest grade consists of the Angels or Bishops of Churches. Each Church has its Angel, who has (1) the higher supervision and care of all the flock, (2) the supervision and care of the Priests under him, and (3) the care of the Church itself.
- (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.
- Synonym: angel-noble
- (military slang, originally Royal Air Force) An altitude, measured in thousands of feet.
- Climb to angels sixty. ― ascend to 60,000 feet
- 1983 March 21, Roger Waters (lyrics and music), “The Hero’s Return”, in The Final Cut, performed by Pink Floyd:
- And even now part of me flies over Dresden at angels one five; / Though they’ll never fathom it, behind my sarcasm desperate memories lie.
- (colloquial, dated) An unidentified flying object detected by air traffic control radar.
- someone that funds
- (finance) An angel investor.
- 2011, OECD, Financing High-Growth Firms: The Role of Angel Investors:
- “Latent” angels are defined as those who have not invested capital in the past 12 months, although they likely have invested knowledge in the process of reviewing potential investments.
- (theater) The person who funds a show. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
- Synonym: backer
- (finance) An angel investor.
Synonyms
- (spiritual messenger): errand-ghost (rare)
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- an angel passes
- angelage
- angel aura
- angel baby
- angel bed
- angel bites
- angel cake
- angel date
- angeldom
- angel-drawers
- angel dust
- angel dusting
- angel eye
- angel fingers
- angelfish
- angel fish
- angel food
- angel food cake
- angel-food cake
- angel gear
- angel hair
- angel hat
- angelhood
- angelic
- angelical
- angelicity
- angeliferous
- angelify
- angel insect
- angel investment
- angelise
- angelism
- angelist
- angelistic
- angelization
- angelize
- angelkind
- angelless
- angellike
- angel-lore
- angel lust
- angel lute
- angelly
- angel maker
- angel mom
- angel number
- angelocracy
- angel of death
- angel of mercy
- angelolatry
- angelology
- angelomachy
- angelomorphic
- angelophany
- angel particle
- angel pie
- angel's dram
- angel shark
- angel shot
- angel sleeve
- angels moving the furniture
- angel's tears
- angel tern
- angel water
- angel wing
- angel wings
- angely
- archangel
- better angels
- blue angel
- business angel
- death angel
- destroying angel
- don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
- Dutch angel dragon
- fallen angel
- flare angel
- guardian angel
- gyrating angel
- half-angel
- high angel
- nonangel
- patience of an angel
- recording angel
- sea angel
- shoulder angel
- snow angel
- strangling angel
- strangling angel of children
- sunangel
- sun-angel
- swamp angel
- sweat angel
- trail angel
- wall angel
Related terms
Terms etymologically related to angel
Descendants
Translations
messenger from a deity
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in Christian angelology, the lowest order of angels
|
selfless person
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
angel (third-person singular simple present angels, present participle angeling or angelling, simple past and past participle angeled or angelled)
- (transitive, theater, slang) To support by donating money.
- 1944, Maurice Zolotow, Never Whistle in a Dressing Room; Or, Breakfast in Bedlam, page 59:
- Six years ago, he lost $20,000 in the first show he angelled, a turkey called Dance Night.
References
- Bingham, Caleb (1808) “Improprieties in Pronunciation, common among the people of New-England”, in The Child's Companion; Being a Conciſe Spelling-book […] , 12th edition, Boston: Manning & Loring, →OCLC, page 74.
Etymology 2
Clipping of Angelman
Noun
angel (plural angels)
- (informal) A person who has Angelman syndrome.
See also
Anagrams
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