Etymology

James Tissot, Adam and Eve Driven from Paradise (c. 1896–1902);^{[n 1]} the painting depicts cherubim (sense 1) preventing Adam and Eve from returning to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24)

A cherub (sense 3) decorating a lavabo or washbasin in the Misericórdia Church in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

A detail depicting cherubs (sense 3) or putti from Pieter de Grebber’s Aanbidding der herders (Adoration of the Shepherds, 1633)^{[n 2]}

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#CHERUBCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#CHERUB cherub, cherube, cherubin, cherubine, cherubym, cherubyn, cherybin, gerubin, jerubin (“angel of the second highest order; depiction of such an angel”),^[1] from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#CHERUBCategory:English terms derived from Old English#CHERUB cerubin, cerubim, ceruphin, cherubin, from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#CHERUB cherūbīm, cherūbīn, from Ancient GreekCategory:English terms derived from Ancient Greek#CHERUB χερουβῑ́μ (kheroubī́m), χερουβείν (kheroubeín), χερουβίμ (kheroubím), from HebrewCategory:English terms derived from Hebrew#CHERUB כְּרוּבִים (k'ruvím);.^[2]

Because it was not always clear from Bible passages whether a single being or group of beings was being referred to, cherubin was used both as a singular word (plural cherubins) and plural word up to the 18th century. However, in Bible translations particularly from the 16th century onward cherub began to be favoured as the singular form, and from the 17th century cherubim as the plural form (influenced by Hebrew כְּרוּבִים (k'ruvím)).^[2]

The English word is cognate with French chérubin, Italian cherubino, Old Spanish cherubin (modern Spanish querubín), Galician querubín, Portuguese querubim.^[2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: chĕrʹəb, IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɛ.ɹəb/Category:English 2-syllable words#CHERUBCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#CHERUB

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#CHERUB
• Rhymes: -ɛɹəbCategory:Rhymes:English/ɛɹəb#CHERUBCategory:Rhymes:English/ɛɹəb/2 syllables#CHERUB
• Hyphenation: che‧rub

Noun

cherub (plural cherubs or cherubim or cherubims or (obsolete) cherubin)Category:English lemmas#CHERUBCategory:English nouns#CHERUBCategory:English countable nouns#CHERUBCategory:English nouns with irregular plurals#CHERUBCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CHERUBCategory:Pages with entries#CHERUBCategory:Pages with 4 entries#CHERUB

1. (biblicalCategory:en:Bible#CHERUB) A winged creature attending God and guarding his throne described as a being with four faces (man, lion, ox, and eagle), human hands, calf hooves, four wings, and many eyes. A description can be found in Ezekiel chapter 1 and Ezekiel chapter 10; similar to a lamassu (winged bull with a human torso) in the pre-exilic texts of the Hebrew Bible, more humanoid in later texts.
2. (post-biblical) A winged angel, described by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (c. 5th–6th century) as the second highest order of angels, ranked above thrones and below seraphim.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Pistle off Paul unto the Hebrues ix:[5], folio cccviii, recto:

     Over the arcke were the cherubyns off glory shadowynge the seate of grace.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:24:

     So he [God] droue out the man [Adam]: and he placed at the East of the garden of Eden, Cherubims, and a flaming ſword, which turned euery way, to keepe the way of the tree of life.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 197–199:

     About his Chariot numberleſs were pour'd / Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones, / And Vertues, winged Spirits, and Chariots wing'd, […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “To Her Grace the Dutchess of Ormond, with the Following Poem of Palamon and Arcite, from Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     O Daughter of the Roſe, […] / Whoſe Face is Paradiſe, but fenc'd from Sin: / For God in either Eye has plac'd a Cherubin.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 1846, Emanuel Swedenborg, “[Exodus.] Chapter XXV.”, in Heavenly Arcana, which are in the Sacred Scripture or Word of the Lord, Laid Open. […] Exodus. […], volume XI, Boston, Mass.: Published for the proprietors [New Church Printing Society], by Otis Clapp, […], →OCLC, note 9506, page 345:

     [B]y cherubs is signified guard and providence lest the Lord should be come at except by the good of love, thus to prevent any entering into heaven except they who are in good, also to prevent those who are in heaven, from being approached and hurt by those who are in hell. From these things it may be manifest what was signified by the propitiatory being over the ark, and by the cherubs being over the propitiatory and by the propitiatory and the cherubs being of pure gold; for gold signifies the good of love, and the ark heaven where the Lord is. [Interpreting Exodus 25:17–22 of the Bible.]

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Whiteness of the Whale”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 210:

     But I doubt not, that leathern tally, meant for man, was taken off in Heaven, when the white fowl flew to join the wing-folding, the invoking, and adoring cherubim!

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 1872 January, [Christina Rossetti], “A Christmas Carol [In the Bleak Midwinter]”, in J[osiah] G[ilbert] Holland, editor, Scribner’s Monthly, an Illustrated Magazine for the People, volume III, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Scribner & Co., […], →OCLC, stanza IV, page 278:

     Angels and Archangels / May have gathered there, / Cherubim and Seraphim / Thronged the air; / But only His Mother / In her maiden bliss / Worshiped the Beloved / With a kiss.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

3. In later texts changed to a winged baby; in artistic depictions sometimes a baby's head with wings but no body.

   Synonyms: amoretto, cupid, putto

   • 1611, Robert Abbot, “Of Images”, in The Second Part of the Defence of the Reformed Catholicke. […], London: Impensis Thomæ Adams, →OCLC, page 1164:

     For ſome colour of ſetting vp their idols in Churches to bee worſhiped, they full ſimply alledge the Cherubins that were ſet vp in the temple which Solomon built, which M. [William] Bishop ſaith were the images of Angels, and that they did repreſent the Angels wee will not deny, but of what ſhape they were, no man ſaith Joſephus, can cõiecture or affirme any thing.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 1831 October 31, Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, chapter I, in Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus (Standard Novels; IX), 3rd edition, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 22:

     When my father returned from Milan, he found playing with me in the hall of our villa a child fairer than pictured cherub – a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks and whose form and motions were lighter than the chamois of the hills.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 1995, Catherine Gonzalez, Cherub in Stone (Chaparral Book for Young Readers), Fort Worth, Tex.: Texas Christian University Press, →ISBN, page 9:

     Finally I must have drifted off, because I dreamt we were in a terrible frightening place – there was a giant, standing on a hill, looking down at us. But then a cherub came to rescue me – it must have been that cherub in stone that Papa promised to carve for me. I remember feeling safe then, and after that I slept soundly all night.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 2010, Pseudonymous Bosch [pseudonym; Raphael Simon], “The Royal Kennels”, in This Isn’t What It Looks Like (The Secret Series; 4), New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN; republished London: Usborne, 2014, →ISBN:

     The kennels occupied a long brick building designed to resemble the palace in miniature. Inside, the walls were painted with murals of dogs frolicking in the woods and giving chase to a frightened fox while chubby canine cherubim smiled down at them.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

4. (figuratively) A person, especially a child, seen as being particularly angelic or innocent.

   Synonyms: angel, innocent

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 71:

     Patience, thou young and rose-lipp'd Cherubin.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 91, column 1:

     This fell whore of thine, / Hath in her more deſtruction then thy Sword, / For all her Cherubin looke.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • 2018 December 12, Charles Bramesco, “A Spoonful of Nostalgia Helps the Calculated Mary Poppins Returns Go Down”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 24 May 2019:

     [T]he 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CHERUB

Notes

References

Further reading

• cherub on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Bucher

Etymology

More recent than cherubijn. Borrowed from LatinCategory:Dutch terms borrowed from Latin#CHERUBCategory:Dutch terms derived from Latin#CHERUB cherūb, from Ancient GreekCategory:Dutch terms derived from Ancient Greek#CHERUB χερούβ (kheroúb), ultimately from Biblical HebrewCategory:Dutch terms derived from Biblical Hebrew#CHERUB כְּרוּב (k'rúv).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxeː.rʏp/Category:Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation#CHERUB

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Dutch terms with audio pronunciation#CHERUB
• Hyphenation: che‧rub

Noun

cherub m (plural cherubs, diminutive cherubje n)Category:Dutch lemmas#CHERUBCategory:Dutch nouns#CHERUBCategory:Dutch nouns with plural in -s#CHERUBCategory:Dutch nouns with red links in their headword lines#CHERUBCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#CHERUBCategory:Dutch masculine nouns#CHERUBCategory:Pages with entries#CHERUBCategory:Pages with 4 entries#CHERUB

1. cherub
   1. (biblicalCategory:nl:Bible#CHERUB, historicalCategory:Dutch terms with historical senses#CHERUB) lamassu-like angel
   2. (biblicalCategory:nl:Bible#CHERUB, religionCategory:nl:Religion#CHERUB) six-winged humanoid angel
   3. (artCategory:nl:Art#CHERUB) putto

Etymology

From Ancient GreekCategory:Latin terms derived from Ancient Greek#CHERUB χερούβ (kheroúb), ultimately from Biblical HebrewCategory:Latin terms derived from Biblical Hebrew#CHERUB כְּרוּב (kərūḇ).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʰɛ.ruːb]Category:Latin 2-syllable words#CHERUBCategory:Latin terms with IPA pronunciation#CHERUB
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkɛː.rub]Category:Latin 2-syllable words#CHERUBCategory:Latin terms with IPA pronunciation#CHERUB

Noun

cherūb n or m (genitive cherūb)Category:Latin lemmas#CHERUBCategory:Latin nouns#CHERUBCategory:Latin entries with incorrect language header#CHERUBCategory:Latin neuter nouns#CHERUBCategory:Latin masculine nouns#CHERUBCategory:Latin nouns with multiple genders#CHERUBCategory:Pages with entries#CHERUBCategory:Pages with 4 entries#CHERUB

1. (biblicalCategory:la:Bible#CHERUB, chiefly in the plural) cherub

   Coordinate term: seraph

   • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, Exodus 25:18-19:

     duos quoque cherubin aureos et productiles facies ex utraque parte oraculi
     cherub unus sit in latere uno et alter in altero

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     Category:Latin terms with quotations#CHERUBCategory:Requests for translations of Latin quotations#CHERUB

   • (Can we date this quote?)Category:Requests for date in Latin entries#CHERUB 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

     Category:Latin terms with quotations#CHERUB

   • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, 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

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     Category:Latin terms with quotations#CHERUBCategory:Requests for translations of Latin quotations#CHERUB

   • 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.

References

• “Chĕrub”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “chĕrub”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late LatinCategory:Polish terms borrowed from Late Latin#CHERUBCategory:Polish learned borrowings from Late Latin#CHERUBCategory:Polish terms derived from Late Latin#CHERUB cherūb, from Ancient GreekCategory:Polish terms derived from Ancient Greek#CHERUB χερούβ (kheroúb), from HebrewCategory:Polish terms derived from Hebrew#CHERUB כְּרוּב (kerúv)Category:Hebrew links with redundant target parameters#CHERUB.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɛ.rup/Category:Polish 2-syllable words#CHERUBCategory:Polish terms with IPA pronunciation#CHERUB

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Polish terms with audio pronunciation#CHERUB
• Rhymes: -ɛrupCategory:Rhymes:Polish/ɛrup#CHERUBCategory:Rhymes:Polish/ɛrup/2 syllables#CHERUB
• Syllabification: che‧rub

Noun

cherub m persCategory:Polish lemmas#CHERUBCategory:Polish nouns#CHERUBCategory:Polish entries with incorrect language header#CHERUBCategory:Polish masculine nouns#CHERUBCategory:Polish personal nouns#CHERUBCategory:Pages with entries#CHERUBCategory:Pages with 4 entries#CHERUB

1. alternative form of cherubin

Noun

cherub m animalCategory:Polish lemmas#CHERUBCategory:Polish nouns#CHERUBCategory:Polish entries with incorrect language header#CHERUBCategory:Polish masculine nouns#CHERUBCategory:Polish animal nouns#CHERUBCategory:Pages with entries#CHERUBCategory:Pages with 4 entries#CHERUB

1. (figuratively, literaryCategory:Polish literary terms#CHERUB) alternative form of cherubin

   Synonym: efeb

Further reading

• “cherub”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎ (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “cherub”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎ (in Polish)