▪ I. angel, n.
(ˈeɪndʒəl)
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 translate 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.]
I. 1. a. 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, Islamic, 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 astaᵹ. 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 Lefdi 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 hab 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 Shakes. 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 Queen 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. (1877) 24 An angel strengthened Christ in Gethsemane. |
b. One of the fallen or rebellious spirits, said to have been formerly angels of God.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxv. 41 F{yacu}r écce seðe foreᵹe⁓ᵹearuuad is diwle & englum his. c 1160 Hatton G. ibid., Deofle and hys englen ᵹegarewað. 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. ― 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 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 78 There is no euill Angell but Loue. 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. 1875 Farrar Sil. & 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 Shakes. 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, A guardian angel o'er his life presiding, Doubling his pleasures, and his cares dividing. 1858 Longfellow 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 J. 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 tr. 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 J. Beaumont Psyche xv. cxxxv, They should be The Angels of this News as well as He. 1815 Byron Destr. Sennacherib 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 6
s. 8
d. In 1 Henry VIII it was 7
s. 6
d., 34 Henry VIII 8
s., and 6
Edw. VI 10
s.; 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 Shakes. Merry W. i. iii. 60 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 Leisure Ho. 247 Chief Justice Hall, so long as he practised at the Bar, persisted in charging only the angel in ordinary matters. |
7. angels on horseback (see
quot. 1900).
| 1888 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. §2078 Angels on Horseback. (Fr. — Anges à Cheval). 1900 ‘Sarah Grand’ Babs (1901) xv Angels on Horseback, now—those delicious little morsels of oysters rolled in bacon, and served on crisp toast. |
8. slang. A financial backer of an enterprise,
esp. one who supports a theatrical production.
orig. U.S.| 1891 J. Maitland Amer. Slang Dict. 18 Angel..One who possesses the means and inclination to ‘stand treat’. 1900 G. Ade More Fables 190 There was no more Capital coming from the Angels. 1921 Wodehouse Jill the Reckless xi. 161 Ike hasn't any of his own money in the thing... The angel is the long fellow you see jumping around. 1948 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Apr. 218/5 In the United States there is more money, more paper..the magazines are fatter, the ‘angels’ are richer. 1953 Economist 28 Mar. 853/1 That increasingly rare being, the ‘angel’ who will risk his money in a theatrical venture. |
9. R.A.F slang. Height;
spec. a height of 1,000 feet. Usu. in
pl.| 1943 P. Brennan et al. Spitfires over Malta i. 18 ‘Gain your angels quickly{ddd}’ We continued to climb. Ibid. iii. 71 We climbed into sun, Woody advising us to get as much angels as possible. 1943 Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 11 ‘20 M.E.s at Angels one owe’ means ‘20 Messerschmitts at 10,000 ft.’ 1946 J. Irving Royal Navalese 23 Angels, a measurement of one thousand feet in height, used in the air combat code. |
10. An ‘unexplained’ mark on a radar screen.
| 1947 W. B. Gould in Proc. Inst. Radio Engineers XXXV. 1105/1 Radar equipment..has given fairly consistent unexplainable echoes at altitudes between approximately 300 and 3000 yards. For want of a better term, these echoes have been dubbed ‘Angels’ by Signal Corps personnel. 1958 Listener 30 Oct. 691/1 New radar sets of much higher power, on which the display was sometimes covered with small echoes, called ‘angels’ by the operators. Ibid., A Swiss biologist, working with British radar equipment at Zurich airport, proved that ‘angels’ were the echoes from small birds on migration. 1962 New Scientist 12 Apr. 23/3 A substantial proportion of angel echoes are indeed attributable to birds. |
11. = hell's angel s.v. hell n. 12.
| 1969 Listener 1 May 624/1 His climactic sequence in church, in which an Angel's funeral degenerates into an orgy, is no more than a picturesque trifling with the perverse. 1970 [see frail n.3]. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 18 Nov. 8/5 There is little dramatic tension in the book until the introduction of the scientist whom three Angels are sent to rescue/kidnap. 1977 Rolling Stone 16 June 11/3 Another 20 Angels and maybe twice that number of Dead friends freely wander around in the wings. |
B. Comb. and
attrib. 1. General relations (
freq. in poetic use):
a. appositive, as
angel-goddess,
angel-guardian,
angel-messenger,
angel-mother,
angel-power,
angel-stranger,
angel-vampire,
angel-warder,
angel-woman.
b. objective with
pr. pple. or
vbl. n., as
angel-worship,
angel-worshipper,
angel-ing.
c. instrumental with
pa. pple., as
angel-borne,
angel-builded,
angel-guarded,
angel-heralded,
angel-infested,
angel-loosened,
angel-warned.
d. similative, as
angel-bright,
angel-fair,
angel-seeming,
angel-wise.
e. attrib. (of, or as of, or pertaining to, an angel or angels;
= angelic), as
angel appearance,
angel choir,
angel-evening,
angel-event,
angel face,
angel form,
angel grace,
angel infancy,
angel music,
angel psalm,
angel trumpet,
angel visit,
angel voice.
| 1858 Sears Athan. vi. 50 The *angel-appearances were not the same to all the witnesses. |
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. (1751) 144 Talents *angel-bright. |
| 1839 Bailey Festus xix. (1848) 226 The fragments of that *angel-builded fane. |
| 1929 E. Blunden Near & Far 41 The tender amaranthine domes Of *angel-evenings. |
| Ibid. 49 The bright *Angel-event of sunset's fresh creation. |
| 1833 J. H. Newman Bk. Praise (1862) 432 And with the morn those *angel faces smile. |
| 1878 Gladstone Prim. Homer 74 Iris, the messenger or *angel-goddess. |
| 1611 Heywood Gold. Age i. i, So full of *Angell grace. |
| 1917 D. H. Lawrence Look! We have come Through! 101 But we storm the *angel-guarded Gates of the long-discarded Garden. |
| 1940 G. Barker Lament & Triumph 31 The Seven Seas with their *angel-infested crests. |
| 1938 W. de la Mare Memory 26 The noon sun's *angel-loosened archery. |
| 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. |
| 1856 R. Vaughan Ho. w. Mystics (1860) II. 97 The floating tones of some distant *angel-psalm. |
| 1738 Wesley Ps. No. 47, v, Shout the *Angel-Quires aloud. |
| 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. xlv. 402 These same guileful *angel-seeming sprites. |
| c 1630 Milton At a Solemn Music, The bright seraphim..Their loud uplifted *angel-trumpets blow. |
| 1936 W. H. Auden Look, Stranger! 41 The white *angel-vampires flit. |
| 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope ii. 386 *Angel visits, few and far between. |
| 1879 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1918) 44 Frowning and forefending *angel-warder. |
| 1871 C. Pearson Sarum Seq. 29 *Angel-warned, no word they bring Back to Herod. |
| 1918 W. de la Mare Motley 54 The Shape who hoofs applause..Hoots—*angel-wise—‘the Cause!’ |
| 1863 J. C. Jeaffreson Sir Everard's Dau. xiii. 235 Bernard thought of an *angel-woman..his boyhood's love. |
| 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 744 Augustine..naming them Angelici, *angel-worshippers. |
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-cake (
orig. U.S.), a variety of sponge-cake;
angel-cornice, one decorated with figures of angels;
angel dust slang (
orig. U.S.),
= phencyclidine, used as a hallucinogen;
angels' eyes, the plant, germander speedwell;
angel-face, used,
esp. as a term of address and
freq. ironically, for a person with an ‘angelic’ or innocent face (
cf. quot. 1833, sense B. 1; see also
quot. 1925);
† angels'-food, a term for strong ale;
angel('s)-food (-cake), (
orig. U.S.), angel-cake;
† 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;
angel skin [
tr. F.
peau d'ange], a fabric with a smooth waxy face;
angel sleeve, a long loose sleeve. 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. |
| 1886 Good Housek. (N.Y.) 10 July 127/2, I always use the pan sold as an ‘*angel cake pan’. 1904 N.Y. Times 13 June 8 To have angel cake would be sacrilegious. 1905 N.Y. Even. Post 4 Aug. 7 Angel cake, sponge cake, and ice-cream cake have conspired to relegate the seed cake to practical oblivion. 1909 J. Masefield Tragedy of Nan ii. p. 28 None but angel-cakes 'd be fit eating for you, Miss Nan. 1956 ‘N. Shute’ Beyond Black Stump vii. 201 He would usually take with him an enormous peach pie or an angel cake. |
| 1862 Rickman Goth. Archit. 371 Another peculiar ornament is the *angel cornice. |
| 1969 Rolling Stone 28 June 4/1 Parsley can give a more powerful high on marijuana. The garden herb, says Olas Hendrickson, is the basic ingredient in a new psychedelic substance called ‘*Angels' Dust’. 1973 [see phencyclidine]. 1978 J. Wambaugh Black Marble ix. 189 My nephew was arrested because he was holding this angel dust for somebody else. 1985 Sunday Times 24 Mar. 12/2 PCP or ‘angel dust’, a strong anaesthetic which came after LSD in 1960s drug fashions..has recently emerged anew. Now they call it ‘rocket fuel’ in Chicago and mix it with peanut butter. |
| 1863 Gosse Dartmoor in Intell. Obs. 318 The sweet germander speedwell..here, most poetically, named by the peasantry, ‘*angels' eyes.’ |
| 1913 Wodehouse Little Nugget i. i. 14 ‘Ogden, darling..stay by me, *angel-face.’ ‘Oh, shush!’ muttered angel-face. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 6 Angel face, Air Force slang for any young, or boyish looking, Probationary Flight Officer. 1932 E. Wallace When Gangs Came xxi. 181 I've finished talking about it, angel-face. |
| 1577 Harrison Engl. 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. |
| 1881 Mrs. Owens Cook Bk. 161 *Angel's food. In other words, White Sponge Cake. 1920 S. Lewis Main St. vii. 88 They distributed..stuffed olives, potato salad, and angel's-food cake. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 335/1 Angel Cake (Angel Food Cake), an extremely light, feathery cake of the sponge type. |
| 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. 1874 R. Morris tr. Blickling Homilies vii. 92 All angel-kind shall look through the aperture on mankind. |
| 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. |
| 1935 Times 13 Nov. 15/5 The short jacket is of white *angel skin with blue sleeves. 1951 F. Stark Beyond Euphrates 186 A white evening gown of a satin they call angel-skin. |
| 1862 Chesnut Diary (1905) 204 She saw them coming in *angel sleeves, displaying all their white arms. 1887 E. Custer Tenting on Plains (1889) v. 174 The sting was inflicted..in the far back days of ‘angel sleeves’, which fell away from the arm to the shoulder. 1906 Daily Chron. 19 Sept. 5/6 Capes of fur with large ‘angel’ sleeves. |
Add:
[B.] [2.] angel-shark, any shark of the family Squatinidae, characterized by wing-like pectoral fins;
spec. = monk-fish n. 1.
| 1842 United Service Mag. May 3 The Squalus squatina, or *angel shark, alias monk-fish. 1883 [see monk-fish n. 1]. 1985 Banister & Campbell Encycl. Underwater Life 136/2 The angelsharks are unusual, being very flat, and are considered to be more closely related to the skates and rays than to the more ‘typical’ sharks. They grow to more than 1.8m (6 ft) in length and there are about 10 species in the genus Squatina, found in all tropical to temperate seas. |
Add:
[B.] [2.] angel's trumpet(s) (also
angels' trumpet(s)), any of various plants of either the South American genus
Brugmansia of tree-like shrubs or the genus
Datura of herbaceous perennials, both of the family Solanaceae and characterized by large trumpet-shaped flowers; also, the flower(s) of any of these plants.
| 1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants 3/2 *Angel's Trumpets, the flowers of Brugmansia suaveolens. 1915 A. W. Lushington Vernacular List Trees, Shrubs & Woody Climbers Madras Presidency I. 323/1 (Index), Angel's Trumpet..Datura suaveolens. 1955 G. Grigson Englishman's Flora 294 In Somerset it [sc. Datura stramonium] has been called Angel's Trumpets, the name usually given now to the tall, shrubby Thorn-apples from Brazil.., which are hung about with trumpet blossoms. 1961 Amat. Gardening 14 Oct. Suppl. 17/1 Datura..half-hardy plants..(also known as Brugmansias and Angels' Trumpets)..striking evergreen subjects for the cool greenhouse. 1987 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 12 June 3/7 Police may seek to have the plant datura, or angel's trumpet, prohibited after the drugging of six young people on the Sunshine Coast. |
▸
N. Amer. = snow angel n. at
snow n.1 Additions. Freq. in
to make an angel.
| 1925 Chicago Daily Tribune 17 Jan. 14/5 Seeing it was Sunday we thought we would make angels in the snow. 1967 C. O. Skinner Madame Sarah viii. 179 She jumped from the sleigh, flung herself backward into the drift and, waving her arms up and down at their sides, created one of those imprints which children call ‘making an angel’. 1979 W. Zander Distances iv. 52 I'm in the snow..rolling around making angels. 1994D. W. Rowe Bye, George—I think you got It in H. C. Sisson & D. W. Rowe Coots, Codgers & Curmudgeons 166 The Mountie drove the fellow back to the highway but all they could see was a big ‘angel’ in the snow, as if made by the biggest, dumbest kid ever to go to daycare. |
▪ II. angel, v. (
ˈeɪndʒəl)
[f. the n.] 1. trans. To finance or back (an enterprise,
esp. a theatrical production).
slang (chiefly
U.S.).
| 1929 M. Lief Hangover 235 He's trying to get me to angel one of his plays. 1948 Lait & Mortimer New York: Confid. (1951) xxi. 194 A revue angeled by gangster dough. 1949 Newsweek 16 May 60/2 Last week..Aunt Anita agreed to angel a new Manhattan morning tabloid. |
2. intr. To gain height.
Cf. angel n. 9.
R.A.F. slang.
| 1941 Reader's Digest Feb. 54 The boys of Britain's R.A.F. have developed a language all their own. A fighter pilot is told to ‘scramble’, instead of take off; then he ‘angels upward’. |