Etymograph

English

angel

Angel comes from Old English anġel, from Latin angelus, from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος ‘messenger’, perhaps via earlier Old English enġel.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγγελος‘messenger’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEangelus‘angel, messenger’
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*angil‘angel’uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150enġel‘angel’uncertain
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150anġel‘angel’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aungel‘angel’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606angel

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγγελος‘messenger’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEangelus‘angel, messenger’
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*angil‘angel’uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150enġel‘angel’uncertain
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150anġel‘angel’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aungel‘angel’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606angel

Earliest quotation: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Diſpaire thy Charme, / And let the Angell whom…”

The story

The religious sense of the Greek word first appeared in the Septuagint as a translation of the Hebrew word מַלְאָךְ (malʾāḵ, “messenger”) or מַלְאַךְ יהוה (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.

Every English word from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος

Today it means

noun An incorporeal and holy or semidivine messenger from a deity or other divine entity, traditionally depicted as a youthful, winged figure in flowing robes.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἄγγελος / angel

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