angel

[ eyn-juhl ]
See synonyms for angel on Thesaurus.com
noun

  1. one of a class of spiritual beings; a celestial attendant of God. In medieval angelology, angels constituted the lowest of the nine celestial orders (seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations or dominions, virtues, powers, principalities or princedoms, archangels, and angels).

  2. a conventional representation of such a being, in human form, with wings, usually in white robes.

  1. a messenger, especially of God.

  2. a person who performs a mission of God or acts as if sent by God: an angel of mercy.

  3. a person having qualities generally attributed to an angel, as beauty, purity, or kindliness.

  4. a person whose actions and thoughts are consistently virtuous.

  5. an attendant or guardian spirit.

  6. a deceased person whose soul is regarded as having been accepted into heaven.

  7. a person who provides financial backing for some undertaking, as a play, political campaign, or business venture: A group of angels entered the mix, providing George the leverage he needed to take the startup company in a new direction.Angels seek deals that they can exit in less than a decade.

  8. an English gold coin issued from 1470 to 1634, varying in value from 6s. 8d. to 10s. and bearing on its obverse a figure of the archangel Michael killing a dragon.

  9. Slang. an image on a radar screen caused by a low-flying object, as a bird.

verb (used with object),an·geled, an·gel·ing or, especially British an·gelled, an·gel·ling.

  1. Informal. to provide financial backing for: Two wealthy friends angeled the Broadway revival of his show.

Origin of angel

1
First recorded before 950; 1890–95 for def. 9; Middle English a(u)ngel, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Late Latin angelus, from New Testament Greek ángelos “messenger of God,” special use of Greek ángelos “messenger” (to translate Hebrew mal'ākh ), of disputed origin, frequently connected to ángaros “Persian mounted courier,” suggesting derivation from an uncertain source possibly akin to Akkadian agâru “to hire” or egertu “letter,” Persian angareh “journal, narrative,” or Sanskrit ajira “swift”; replacing Old English engel, from Latin, as above

Words that may be confused with angel

Words Nearby angel

Other definitions for Angel (2 of 2)

Angel
[ eyn-juhl; Spanish ahn-hel ]
noun

  1. a male or female given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use angel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for angel

angel

/ (ˈeɪndʒəl) /

noun

  1. theol one of a class of spiritual beings attendant upon God. In medieval angelology they are divided by rank into nine orders: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations (or dominions), virtues, powers, principalities (or princedoms), archangels, and angels

  2. a divine messenger from God

  1. a guardian spirit

  2. a conventional representation of any of these beings, depicted in human form with wings

  3. informal a person, esp a woman, who is kind, pure, or beautiful

  4. informal an investor in a venture, esp a backer of a theatrical production

  5. Also called: angel-noble a former English gold coin with a representation of the archangel Michael on it, first minted in Edward IV's reign

  6. informal an unexplained signal on a radar screen

Origin of angel

1
Old English, from Late Latin angelus, from Greek angelos messenger

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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