seraph

== English == === 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). === Pronunciation === enPR: sĕrˈ -əf; IPA(key): /ˈsɛɹəf/ Rhymes: -ɛɹəf Homophone: serif (one pronunciation) === Noun === seraph (plural seraphs or seraphim or (nonstandard) seraphims) (biblical) 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. (post-biblical) A six-winged angel; one of the highest choir or order of angels in Christian angelology, ranked above cherubim, and below God. ==== Alternative forms ==== saraph (rare) seraphim (archaic or nonstandard) ==== Synonyms ==== uraeus ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === See also === archangel cherub === Anagrams === E sharp, E-sharp, Harpes, Sharpe, Sherpa, Spehar, e sharp, e-sharp, harpes, hepars, pasher, phares, phaser, phrase, raphes, shaper, sharpe, sherpa, shrape, sphear == Latin == === Etymology === From Koine Greek σερᾱ́φ (serā́ph), back-formed from σερᾱφείμ (serāpheím) by analogy with Biblical Hebrew שְׂרָפִים (śərāp̄îm), the plural form of שָׂרָף (śārāp̄, “burning one”); perhaps related to the root שרף (“to burn”). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈsɛ.rapʰ] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈsɛː.raf] === Noun === seraph n or m (genitive seraph) (biblical, chiefly in the plural) seraph Coordinate term: cherūb Nova Vulgata, Isaiah 6:2&6 Seraphim stabant iuxta eum; sex alae uni et sex alae alteri: duabus velabat faciem suam et duabus velabat pedes suos et duabus volabat. Et volavit ad me unus de seraphim, et in manu eius calculus, quem forcipe tulerat de altari, ==== Declension ==== Indeclinable noun (with a distinct plural; four different stems). === References === “Sĕrăphīn or Sĕrăphīm”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “sĕrăphīm ou sĕrăphīn”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.