▪ I. † ariel1 Obs.
A word transferred by Wyclif from the Vulgate (after ἀριὴλ of the LXX, ăriēl of the Heb.), rendered by Coverdale and version of 1611 ‘altar.’
(Gesenius would here translate ‘fire-hearth of God,’ after Arab. ari; elsewhere in O.T. the same word occurs as a man's name, and appellation of Jerusalem, where it is taken as = ‘lion of God.’) Ariel in T. Heywood and Milton is the name of an angel, in Shakespeare of ‘an Ayrie spirit’; in Astron. of one of the satellites of Uranus.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xliii. 15, 16 Forsothe the ylk ariel or auter [1388 thilke ariel, that is the hiȝere part of the auter], of foure cubitis, and fro ariel [1388 the auter] vn to above, foure corners. |
▪ II. ariel2
(ˈɛərɪəl)
[a. Arab. aryil (var. of ayyil stag), applied in Syria to the Gazelle (Dozy).]
A species or variety of the Gazelle found in Western Asia and Africa.
| [1828 Hemprich & Ehr. Symb. Phys., Antilope arabica: Arabis vocatus ghazale. In Syria eidem, uti videtur passim nomen ghazal, passim vero nomen ariel seu aiel dederunt, quod Cervo Elapho competit.] 1832 Penny Cycl. II. 83 The Ariel Antelope so called by the Arabs on account of its light, elegant, and graceful form. 1872 Baker Nile Tribut. iv. 59 A herd of about fifty ariels. |