cherub

From Old English cerubin, from Late Latin cherub, from Ancient Greek χερούβ (kheroúb), ultimately from Hebrew כְּרוּב‎ (kerúv).

• enPR: chĕrʹəb, IPA^(key): /ˈtʃɛɹəb/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

cherub (plural cherubs or cherubim or cherubims)

1. A winged creature represented over 90 times in the Bible as attending on God, later seen as the second highest order of angels, ranked above thrones and below seraphim. First mention is in Genesis 3:24
2. A statue or other depiction of such a being, typically in the form of a winged child.

   Synonyms: cupid, putto, amoretto

3. (figuratively) A person, especially a child, seen as being particularly innocent or angelic.
   • 12 December 2018, Charles Bramesco, AV Club A spoonful of nostalgia helps the calculated Mary Poppins Returns go down

     the zippy musical numbers in which Mary Poppins (a stiff-lipped Emily Blunt) whisks cherubs Annabel, John, and Georgie (Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson, respectively) away into colorful hyperreal fantasias impress.

   Synonyms: angel, innocent

• cherubic

• Bucher

More recent than cherubijn. Borrowed from Latin cherub, from Ancient Greek χερούβ (kheroúb), ultimately from Biblical Hebrew כְּרוּב‎ (k'rúv).

• IPA^(key): /ˈxeː.rʏp/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: che‧rub

cherub m (plural cherubs, diminutive cherubje n)

1. cherub
   1. (biblical, historical) lamassu-like angel
   2. (biblical, religion) six-winged humanoid angel
   3. (art) putto

• (all senses): cherubijn

From Ancient Greek χερούβ (kheroúb), ultimately from Hebrew כְּרוּב‎ (kerúv).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰe.rub/, [ˈkʰɛ.rʊb]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈke.rub/, [ˈkeː.rub]

cherub m (irregular, genitive cherub)

1. (indeclinable, Christianity) cherub
   • 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Exodus 25:18 & 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Exodus 25:19

     duos quoque cherubin aureos et productiles facies ex utraque parte oraculi

     cherub unus sit in latere uno et alter in altero

   • Nova Vulgata, Exodus 25:18&19

     Duos quoque cherubim aureos et productiles facies ex utraque parte propitiatorii,

     cherub unus sit in latere uno et alter in altero

     And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

     And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end

   • 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Ezechiel 9:3

     et gloria Domini Israhel adsumpta est de cherub quae erat super eum ad limen domus et vocavit virum qui indutus erat lineis et atramentarium scriptoris habebat in lumbis suis

   • Nova Vulgata, Ezechiel 9:3

     Et gloria Dei Israel elevata est de cherub, super quem erat, ad limen domus; et vocavit virum, qui indutus erat lineis et atramentarium scriptoris habebat in lumbis suis.

Borrowed from Hebrew with its plural, otherwise indeclinable.

• cherub in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cherub in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette