Angel

Forms: 1–3 engel, 2–3 ængel, ængle, 3 enngell, -gle, angil, eangel, 3–7 angle, 4–5 aungel(e, -ell(e, -il, 4–7 angell, 5–6 angelle, 6 angele, 2– angel. Pl. 1–2 englas, 2–3 engles, 3–7 angles, 2– angels (4–5 -is, -ys, 4–6 -es). [An early Teut. adoption from L., (or, in Goth., from Gr.), afterwards influenced in Eng. by OFr. and L. With OE. ęngel:—angil, cf. OS. engil, OFris. angel, engel, ON. engill, OHG. angil, engil, Goth. aggilus for angilus; a. L. angel-us, or Gr. ἄγγελ-ος a messenger, used by the LXX to trans. late Heb. mal’āk in full mal’āk-yĕhōwāh ‘messenger of Jehovah’; whence the name and doctrine of angels passed into L. and the modern langs. All other uses of the word are either extensions of this, or taken from the Gr. in the primary sense of ‘messenger.’ The OE. form engel, with g hard, remained to 13th c., but eventually, under influence of OFr. angele, angle (with g soft), and L. angelus, initial a prevailed; the forms in au- in 14–15th c. show Fr. influence.]

  1.  A ministering spirit or divine messenger; one of an order of spiritual beings superior to man in power and intelligence, who, according to the Jewish, Christian, Mohammedan, and other theologies, are the attendants and messengers of the Deity.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xxii. 30. Sint suelce englas godes in heofnum [c. 1000 Ags. G., Godes englas. c. 1160 Hatton G., Godes engles]. Ibid., John v. 4. Engel uutudliche Drihtnes … of-dune astaʓ.

c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 227. Þa sende he his ængel to áne mede.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 31. Ðo cam on angel of heuene to hem.

c. 1200.  Moral Ode, 94. Hwat sulle we seggen oðer don þar ængles beð of dradde.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 3914. Godess enngless wærenn þa Well swiþe glade wurrþenn.

c. 1230.  Ancr. R., 92. Ure Lefdí mid hire meidenes, & al þe englene uerd.

c. 1260.  Signs bef. Judg., 153, in E. E. P. (1862), 11. Þat þan sal quake seraphin and cherubin, þat beþ angles two. Þer nis in heuen angil iwis þat to oþer sal haþ spech.

1388.  Wyclif, Ps. viii. 6. Thou hast maad hym a litil lesse than aungels. [Coverd. lower then the angels.]

1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. XXII. 150. Aungeles & archaungeles … Comen kneolynge.

1485.  Caxton, Chas. Gt., 239. I saw the aungellys mounte into heuen on hye.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. xxvi. 53. Moo then xii legions of angelles.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., IV. iii. 22. Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell.

1607.  Hieron, Wks., I. 392. ‘Mahanaim’; because there the angles met him.

1712.  Pope, Spect., No. 408, ¶ 4. Man seems to be placed as the middle Link between Angels and Brutes.

1742.  Blair, Grave, 589. Its visits, Like those of angels, Short and far between.

a. 1842.  Tennyson, May Q., III. 25. All in the wild March-morning I heard the angels call.

1858.  Trench, Parables, xxiii. (1877), 389. The tears of penitents are the wine of angels.

1865.  R. W. Dale, Jew. Temple, ii. (1880), 24. An angel strengthened Christ in Gethsemane.

  Hence b. One of the fallen or rebellious spirits, said to have been formerly angels of God.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xxv. 41. Fýr écce seðe foreʓeʓearuuad is diwle & englum his.

c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid. Deofle and hys englen ʓegarewað.

1382.  Wyclif, Rev. ix. 11. The aungel of depnesse.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, X. 4354. Þere onswaret opunly the aungell of helle.

1611.  Bible, Matt. xxv. 41. Euerlasting fire, prepared for the deuill and his angels. Ibid., Rev. ix. 11. The Angel of the bottomelesse pit.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 125. So spake th’ Apostate Angel.

  c.  A guardian or attendant spirit: lit. in sense 1; but also rhet. without implying any belief in their reality, as ‘her good angel,’ ‘my evil angel triumphed,’ ‘angel of innocence, repentance.’

1382.  Wyclif, Acts xii. 15. Forsoth thei seiden, It is his aungel.

1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., I. i. 78. There is no euill Angell but Loue. Ibid. (1594), Rich. III., IV. i. 93. Go thou to Richard, and good Angels tend thee.

1717.  Pope, Eloisa, 340. Bright clouds descend, and Angels watch thee round.

1874.  Farrar, Silence & Voices, ii. 43. Though the Angel of Innocence have long vanished, the Angel of Repentance takes him gently by the hand.

1879.  Tennyson, Lover’s T., 29. I to her became Her guardian and her angel.

  d.  fig. A person who resembles an angel either in attributes or actions; (a) a lovely, bright, innocent or gracious being; (b) a minister of loving offices.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. ii. 26. O, speake againe, bright Angell, for thou art As glorious … As is a winged messenger of heauen.

1660.  Stanley, Hist. Philos. (1701), 87/2. Looked upon as Angels for Wit and Eloquence.

a. 1687.  Petty, Pol. Arith., i. (1691), 10. Many … do so magnifie the Hollanders … making them Angels.

1808.  Scott, Marm., VI. xxx. When pain and anguish wring the brow, A ministering angel thou.

1819.  S. Rogers, Hum. Life, 33.

1858.  Longf., M. Standish, II. 58. The angel whose name is Priscilla.

Mod.  Not quite such an angel as he looks.

  II.  from the literal sense of Gr. ἄγγελος.

  2.  Any messenger of God, as a prophet, or preacher. [A Hellenism of the Bible and theological writers; sometimes an affected literalism of translation.]

1382.  Wyclif, Gal. iv. 14. Ȝe resceyueden me as an aungel of God. [So in all versions.]

c. 1400.  Apol. Loll., 31. He [þe prest] is þe aungel of þe Lord of hostis.

c. 1560.  Prayer, in Phenix (1708), II. 232. Our Lord Jesus Christ, that Great Angel of Thy counsel.

1860.  Pusey, Min. Proph., 606. The priest of God is called angel, i.e. messenger, because he … announces the things of God to the people.

1879.  Farrar, St. Paul, I. 148. The last utterance of the Angel Malachi.

  3.  Title of the pastor or minister of a church, in the apocalypse, Eccles. Hist., and in some modern sects, as the Catholic Apostolics.

1382.  Wyclif, Rev. ii. 8. To the aungel of the chirche of Smyrna, wrijte thou.

1526.  Tindale, ibid. The angell of the congregacion of Smyrna. 1611 ibid. The Angel of the Church in Smyrna.

1660.  Stillingfleet, Iren., II. vi. (1662), 289. The publick Minister of the Synagogue, called the Angel of the Congregation.

1831.  E. Irving, in Mrs. Oliphant, Life, II. iv. 204. I fulfil the part of the pastor or angel of the church.

1839.  Yeowell, Anc. Brit. Ch., iv. (1847), 37. To act in the Presbyterial College … as President, Angel, or very soon by the exclusive title of Bishop.

  4.  poet. A messenger generally; fig. in angel of death, formerly used literally in sense 1.

1574.  trans. Marlorat’s Apocalips, 30. An Angell (that is too say, a Messenger) is one that is sent of an errand.

1600.  Chapman, Iliad, XXIV. 189. An angel I have seen, Sent down from Jove.

a. 1637.  B. Jonson, Sad Sheph., II. vi. (T.). The dear good angel of the spring, The nightingale.

1648.  Jos. Beaumont, Psyche, XV. cxxxv. They should be The Angels of this News as well as He.

1815.  Byron, Destr. Sennach., 9. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast.

1853.  Arab. Nts. (Rtlg.), 455. My father … hath been summoned away by the angel of death.

  III.  transf.

  5.  A conventional representation of the celestial ministers, figured with wings.

1536.  Reg. Riches, in Antiq. Sarisb. (1771), 203. Another cope of green cloth of gold, with images and Angels of Jesse.

1855.  Tennyson, Maud, I. VIII. An angel watching an urn Wept over her, carved in stone.

1877.  Athenæum, 3 Nov., 571/3. The heads of the countesses lie on cushions which have angels at the corners.

  6.  An old English gold coin, called more fully at first the ANGEL-NOBLE, being originally a new issue of the Noble, having as its device the archangel Michael standing upon, and piercing the dragon.

  The angel copied the device of the Fr. angelot or ange, a gold coin of France struck by Louis XI. It was first coined in 1465 by Edward IV. when its value (like that of the earlier noble) was 6s. 8d. In 1 Henry VIII. it was 7s. 6d., 34 Henry VIII. 8s., and 6 Edw. VI. 10s.; it was last coined by Chas. I. (This was the coin always presented to a patient ‘touched’ for the King’s Evil. When it ceased to be coined, small medals having the same device were substituted for it, and were hence called touch-pieces.)

1488.  Inv. Jewels, in Tytler, Hist. Scot. (1864), II. 390. Twa hundreth four score and v angellis.

1494.  Fabyan, VII. 655. He ordeyned the seconde coyne of golde, and namyd it the angell, whiche was and yet is in value of vis. viiid.

1526.  Wriothesley, Chron. (1875), I. 15. The Kinge enhaunsed his coyne, that is to saye, the riall at 11s. 3d., the angell 7s. 6d.

a. 1593.  H. Smith, 3 Serm. (1624), 6. To fill a coffer ful of Angels.

1598.  Shaks., Merry W., I. iii. 6. She has all the rule of her husbands Purse: he hath a legend of Angels.

1623.  Massinger, Dk. Milan, III. ii. His stripes washed off With oil of angels.

1719.  D’Urfey, Pills (1872), III. 325. An angel of money you must me bring.

1808.  Scott, Marm., I. x. As Lord Marmion crossed the Court, He scattered angels round.

1883.  J. C. Jeaffreson, in Leisure Ho., 347/1. Chief Justice Hall, so long as he practised at the Bar, persisted in charging only the angel in ordinary matters.

  B.  Comb. and Attrib.

  1.  General relations: a. appositive, as angel-goddess, -guardian, -messenger, -mother, -power, -stranger, -woman. b. objective with pr. pple. or vbl. sb., as angel-worship, -worshipper, -ing. c. instrumental with pa. pple. as angel-borne, -builded, -guarded, -heralded, -warned. d. similative, as angel-bright, -fair, -seeming, -wise. e. attrib. (of, or as of, or pertaining to, an angel or angels; = ANGELIC), as angel appearance, choir, face, form, grace, infancy, music, psalm, trumpet, visit, voice.

1878.  Gladstone, Prim. Homer, 74. Iris, the messenger or angel-goddess.

1830.  T. Hamilton, Cyr. Thornton (1845), 121. You may yet see and embrace your angel-mother.

1711.  Pope, Rape Lock, I. 33. Virgins visited by Angel-Powers.

1863.  J. C. Jeaffreson, Sir Everard’s Dau., xiii. 235. Bernard thought of an angel-woman … his boyhood’s love.

1577.  trans. Bullinger’s Decades (1592), 744. Augustine … naming them Angelici, angel-worshippers.

1839.  Bailey, Festus, xix. (1848), 226. The fragments of that angel-builded fane.

1871.  C. B. Pearson, Sarum Sequences, 29.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th. (1751), 144. Talents angel-bright.

1748.  Thomson, Cast. Indol., xlv. 402. These same guileful angel-seeming sprites.

1858.  Sears, Athan., VI. 50. The angel-appearances were not the same to all the witnesses.

1738.  Wesley, Ps. No. 47, v. Shout the Angel-Quires aloud.

1833.  J. H. Newman, Bk. Praise (1862), 432. And with the morn those angel faces smile.

1611.  Heywood, Gold. Age, I. i. So full of Angell grace.

1856.  R. Vaughan, Ho. w. Mystics (1860), II. 97. The floating tones of some distant angel-psalm.

c. 1630.  Milton, At Sol. Music. The bright seraphim … Their loud uplifted angel-trumpets blow.

1799.  Campbell, Pleas. Hope, II. 386. Angel visits, few and far between.

  2.  Special combinations: † angel-beast, an old game at cards; † angel-bed, ‘a sort of open bed without bed-posts,’ Phillips, 1706; † angel-bread, a kind of purgative cake, made of oatmeal and flour, with ginger and spurge; angel-cornice, one decorated with figures of angels; angels’ eyes, the plant, germander speedwell; † angels’-food, a term for strong ale; † angel-gold, standard or ‘guinea’-gold; angel-kind, the race of angels (cf. mankind); † angel-piece, ANGEL 6; † angel-proof, the gold standard of the angel.

  Also ANGEL-FISH, -LIKE, -NOBLE, -SHOT, -WATER, q.v.

1668.  Sedley, Mulb. Gard., IV. i. Offering to play at Angel-beast with them, tho’ he scarce know the cards.

1862.  Rickman, Goth. Archit., 371. Another peculiar ornament is the angel cornice.

1863.  Gosse, Dartmoor, in Intell. Obs., 318. The sweet germander speedwell … here, most poetically, named by the peasantry, ‘angels’ eyes.’

1577.  Harrison, England, II. xviii. (1877), 295. There is such headie ale & beere in most of them [markets], as for the mightinesse thereof … is commonlie called huffecap, the mad dog … angels food, dragons milke.

1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus., 53. Gilt … with good angell gold.

1676.  H. Phillips, Purch. Pattern, 223. Angel-Gold is worth somewhat more, and Sovereign Gold somewhat less.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 362. First þan wroght he angel kind.

1688.  Lond. Gaz., mmcccxliii/4. Suspected to have stolen an Angel piece.

1607.  Dekker, Wh. Babylon, 270. Head all the speares With gold of Angell-proofe.