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 BCEἄγγελος1‘messenger’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEangelus1‘angel, messenger’
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*angil1‘angel’uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150enġel1‘angel’uncertain
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150anġel2‘angel’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aungel1‘angel’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606angel1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English angel
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English aungel
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Diſpaire thy Charme, / And let the Angell whom…”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγγελοςWiktionary, English angel‘messenger’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEangelusWiktionary, English angel‘angel, messenger’
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*angilWiktionary, English angel‘angel’uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150enġelWiktionary, English angel‘angel’uncertain
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150anġelWiktionary, Middle English aungel‘angel’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aungelWiktionary, English angel‘angel’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606angelWiktionary, English angel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “angel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English aungel. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἄγγελος / angel

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