Dictionary

seraph en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsɛɹəf/
• sĕrˈ -əf
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Back-formation of singular from plural seraphim, from Latin seraphim, from Biblical Hebrew שְׂרָפִים (sərāp̄īm), plural form of שָׂרָף (sārāp̄). The plural "seraphims" occurs in the King James Bible (Isaiah chapter 6). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the singular "seraph" may have originated with John Milton, who used it in Book I of Paradise Lost (1667).

Meanings

1. A burning serpent, often winged, with human hands and sometimes feet; one of God's entourage. On Earth, they strike with burning poison; in Heaven, with burning coal.
2. (qualifier:post-biblical) A six-winged angel; one of the highest choir or order of angels in Christian angelology, ranked above cherubim, and below God.
   • I don’t mean that,—I said,—you blessed little saint and seraph!—if there’s an angel missing in the New Jerusalem, inquire for her at this boarding house! 1857–1858, Oliver Wendell Holmes [Sr.], “(please specify the page)”, in The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, published 1858, →OCLC:
   • From these uncordial reveries he is roused by a cordial slap on the shoulder, accompanied by a spicy volume of tobacco-smoke, out of which came a voice, sweet as a seraph's 1857 April 1, Herman Melville, chapter XXIII, in The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, New York, N.Y.: Dix, Edwards & Co., […], →OCLC:
   • When I got there Mrs. Allan met me at the door. She was dressed in the sweetest dress of pale-pink organdy, with dozens of frills and elbow sleeves, and she looked just like a seraph. 1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

seraphlike · seraphic

Relateds

archangel · cherub

Synonyms

uraeus

Translations (40)

el σεραφίμ (high order of angels) · el σεραφείμ (high order of angels) · ro serafim (high order of angels) · it serafino (high order of angels) · de Seraph (high order of angels) · no seraf (high order of angels) · da seraf (high order of angels) · kk оттай жалындаған періште (high order of angels) · nl seraf (high order of angels) · ja 熾天使 (high order of angels) · cs seraf (high order of angels) · tl serapin (high order of angels) · fi serafi (high order of angels) · es serafín (high order of angels) · cs serafín (high order of angels) · ru серафи́м (high order of angels) · uk серафи́м (high order of angels) · ar سَرَافِيم (high order of angels) · nl serafijn (high order of angels) · grc σεραφείν (high order of angels) · sh серафим (high order of angels) · pl serafin (high order of angels) · te సెరాపు (high order of angels) · hi साराप (high order of angels) · eo serafo (high order of angels) · hy սերովբե (high order of angels) · la seraph (high order of angels) · grc σεράφ (high order of angels) · sh serafim (high order of angels) · he שָׂרָף (high order of angels) · ia seraphin (high order of angels) · sv seraf (high order of angels) · cmn 熾天使 /炽天使 (high order of angels) · ia seraphino (high order of angels) · fr séraphin (high order of angels) · is serafi (high order of angels) · pt serafim (high order of angels) · ko 치천사 (high order of angels) · bg серафим (high order of angels) · mk серафим (high order of angels)