angel
Pluralangels
Pluralangels
Formsangels
- 1A spiritual being believed to serve God or another divine being, especially as a messenger, often pictured with wings; in traditional Christian teaching, also one of the lowest of nine orders.
According to the gospel, an angel announced the coming birth to Mary.
The cathedral ceiling is crowded with angels in long, flowing robes.
UsageNot to be confused with angle, a corner or slant. Common phrase: guardian angel.
Note
The wings and flowing robes are tradition rather than meaning. Douglas Adams plays on that gap in Life, the Universe and Everything (1982), where figures that might be angels wear rather less than angels usually do.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Wings are a traditional feature of angel imagery rather than an essential part of the meaning. en.wikipedia.org
- Long robes are conventional in depictions of angels. en.wikipedia.org
- Douglas Adams wrote Life, the Universe and Everything, first published in 1982. en.wikipedia.org
- The novel describes scantily dressed figures that might be intended as angels; the observation is the narrator's. en.wiktionary.org
- 2A person who is very kind, good or innocent.
The nurse who sat with him all night was a true angel.
Only an angel would give up her weekend to help total strangers.
UsageOften said warmly to someone you know: you're an angel. Be an angel and + verb makes a polite request.
Similarsaint, gem, treasure, darling
Oppositedevil
- 3A private person who puts money into a new business or a theatrical production, usually early on.
A local angel put in the first fifty thousand dollars to launch the company.
Several angels backed the app before any venture firm showed interest.
UsageAlso called an angel investor. Angels back or invest in a company early on.
Similarbacker, investor, sponsor, patron
Note
Finance borrowed the word from the theater, where an angel had long meant a show's backer, and angel investor is its longer form.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The financial sense of angel originated in theatrical backing. en.wikipedia.org
- Angel has an established historical meaning of a show's financial backer. en.wikisource.org
- Angel investor is the longer expression corresponding to financial angel. en.wiktionary.org
- 4A person, especially a woman or child, with youthful, wholesome, or radiant beauty.
Freshly bathed and wrapped in a white towel, the toddler looked like a little angel, all pink cheeks and shining curls.
On the runway she looked an absolute angel, fresh and luminous.
UsageOften look like an angel or a little angel.
- 5An attendant spirit that accompanies a person, whether good or evil; a guiding genius or daemon.
The poet wrote of a dark angel that shadowed his every thought.
Diſpaire thy Charme, / And let the Angell whom thou ſtill haſt ſeru’d / Tell thee, Macduffe was from his Mothers womb / Vntimely ript.
c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”UsageLives on in guardian angel, good angel and dark angel.
Note
Here an angel need not be good. In Shakespeare's Macbeth (1623), Macduff bids Macbeth "let the Angell whom thou still hast seru'd" reveal the truth of Macduff's own birth. The spirit meant is the dark power Macbeth has followed, which is why demon, in its old sense of guiding genius, stands beside it. A spirit that may be evil is now met mostly in older texts, though good angel, guardian angel and dark angel keep the personal spirit current.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
- Angel can mean an attendant spirit without implying goodness. en.wiktionary.org
- William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. en.wikisource.org
- Macbeth was first published in 1623; c. 1606 is its composition date. folger.edu
- Macduff addresses Macbeth with the quoted words and tells him the circumstances of Macduff's birth. en.wikisource.org
- The angel in this passage represents the evil supernatural power Macbeth has trusted. en.wikisource.org
- Demon has an old sense of a person's guiding spirit or genius. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 6To financially back a production or venture by donating the money needed to cover its costs.
Several patrons agreed to angel the play through its opening season.
He angeled the revival when its original funding suddenly collapsed.
UsageThe past tense and past participle are spelled angeled or angelled.
Similarback, fund, finance, bankroll, underwrite
Note
Maurice Zolotow's Never Whistle in a Dressing Room (1944) has "the first show he angelled," a turkey called Dance Night that cost its backer $20,000.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Maurice Zolotow wrote Never Whistle in a Dressing Room, first published in 1944. openlibrary.org
- The book contains the exact words "the first show he angelled." en.wiktionary.org
- The passage calls the show Dance Night a turkey and reports its backer's loss as $20,000. en.wiktionary.org
- 7An unexplained echo on a radar screen, often caused by birds, insects, or atmospheric conditions.
An angel appeared on the radar for several seconds, then vanished.
Controllers in the tower argued over what had caused the angels.
Similarblip
Note
Radar gave the word a second airborne life, alongside the altitude call: an unexplained blip on a controller's screen was an angel. The usage is dated and colloquial. In current writing it needs a word of explanation, or readers will picture the heavenly kind.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Angel was used for an unexplained blip on a radar operator's screen. gutenberg.org
- The radar sense is labelled dated and colloquial. en.wiktionary.org
- 8An English gold coin of the 15th to 17th centuries showing the archangel Michael, whose value rose from six shillings eightpence to eleven shillings.
The goldsmith weighed each angel carefully before accepting it as payment.
The auction catalog listed three gold angels, each stamped with Saint Michael slaying the dragon.
Note
Named for its picture: the coin carried the figure of the archangel Michael, and it was also called the angel-noble. Its worth shifted over the centuries it circulated, so a price reckoned in angels has to be read against its date. Today the word survives in historical writing.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The English gold angel circulated during the 15th to 17th centuries. en.wiktionary.org
- The coin was named after its depiction of the archangel Michael. en.wikipedia.org
- The coin was also called the angel-noble. en.wiktionary.org
- Its value changed over time, rising from six shillings eightpence to eleven shillings; interpreting amounts in angels therefore requires their date. en.wikipedia.org
- 9The presiding official of a Christian congregation, usually a bishop but sometimes a minister, especially in the Catholic Apostolic Church.
Note
A title from church government rather than heaven, and now probably obsolete. Writers pair it with its equivalent: Thomas Stackhouse's history of the Bible speaks of "an apostle, or angel, or bishop". Edward Miller's History and Doctrines of Irvingism (1878) describes the Angels or Bishops of the Catholic Apostolic Church, where "each Church has its Angel." In such texts it is often capitalized and means the presiding pastor.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Angel was an ecclesiastical title for a presiding bishop or minister, particularly in the Catholic Apostolic Church. en.wikipedia.org
- Thomas Stackhouse's biblical history contains the quoted equivalence of apostle, angel, and bishop. en.wiktionary.org
- Edward Miller wrote The History and Doctrines of Irvingism, first published in 1878. openlibrary.org
- Miller describes Angels or Bishops, states that each church has its Angel, and uses capitalization for the presiding pastoral office. en.wiktionary.org
- 10A person who has Angelman syndrome, often written with a capital A.
- 11A flying altitude expressed in thousands of feet, used in military aviation.
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Origin
From Middle English aungel, angel, from Old English anġel: either the older enġel (from Proto-West Germanic *angil) reshaped after Latin angelus, or a fresh borrowing of that Latin word, which comes from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, "messenger"). Anglo-Norman angele later reinforced it. The religious sense began in the Greek of the Septuagint, translating Hebrew malʾāḵ ("messenger"). The church-official sense comes from reading the "angels" of the seven churches in Revelation as their bishops or ministers.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 9 facts
- English angel derives from Middle English aungel, angel, from Old English anġel. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English anġel either remodelled enġel after Latin angelus or borrowed the Latin word afresh. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English enġel derives from Proto-West Germanic *angil. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin angelus was borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος. en.wiktionary.org
- Ancient Greek ἄγγελος means messenger. en.wiktionary.org
- Anglo-Norman angele later reinforced the English word. en.wiktionary.org
- The Greek word's religious sense first appeared in the Septuagint. en.wiktionary.org
- The Septuagint uses ángelos to translate Hebrew malʾāḵ, meaning messenger. en.wikipedia.org
- The church-official sense derives from interpreting Revelation's angels of the seven churches as bishops or ministers. en.wiktionary.org