ANGEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Angel mean? 

• ANGEL (noun)
  The noun ANGEL has 4 senses:

1. spiritual being attendant upon God

2. person of exceptional holiness

3. invests in a theatrical production

4. the highest waterfall; has more than one leap; flow varies seasonally

  Familiarity information: ANGEL used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ANGEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spiritual being attendant upon God

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("angel" is a kind of...):

spiritual being; supernatural being (an incorporeal being believed to have powers to affect the course of human events)

Meronyms (parts of "angel"):

wing (a movable organ for flying (one of a pair))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "angel"):

archangel (an angel ranked above the highest rank in the celestial hierarchy)

cherub (an angel of the second order whose gift is knowledge; usually portrayed as a winged child)

seraph (an angel of the first order; usually portrayed as the winged head of a child)

guardian angel; guardian spirit (an angel believed to have special affection for a particular individual)

divine messenger (a messenger from God)

Holonyms ("angel" is a member of...):

celestial hierarchy (the collective body of angels)

Derivation:

angelic (of or relating to angels)

angelical (having a sweet nature befitting an angel or cherub)

angelical (of or relating to angels)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Person of exceptional holiness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

angel; holy man; holy person; saint

Hypernyms ("angel" is a kind of...):

good person (a person who is good to other people)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "angel"):

Buddha (one who has achieved a state of perfect enlightenment)

fakeer; fakir; faqir; faquir (a Muslim or Hindu mendicant monk who is regarded as a holy man)

Derivation:

angelical (marked by utter benignity; resembling or befitting an angel or saint)

angelical (having a sweet nature befitting an angel or cherub)

angelical (of or relating to angels)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Invests in a theatrical production

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

angel; backer

Hypernyms ("angel" is a kind of...):

patron; sponsor; supporter (someone who supports or champions something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The highest waterfall; has more than one leap; flow varies seasonally

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Angel; Angel Falls

Instance hypernyms:

falls; waterfall (a steep descent of the water of a river)

Holonyms ("Angel" is a part of...):

Republic of Venezuela; Venezuela (a republic in northern South America on the Caribbean; achieved independence from Spain in 1811; rich in oil)

 Context examples 

Then at the gasfitters’ ball you met, as I understand, a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Transcendentalism is a beacon to the angels, even if it be a will-o'-the-wisp to man.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

How could I, when, blended with it all, was her dear self, the better angel of my life?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This noble war in the sky elevated my spirits; I clasped my hands, and exclaimed aloud, “William, dear angel! this is thy funeral, this thy dirge!”

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

As a drug of abuse, it is known as PCP and Angel Dust.

(Phencyclidine, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

And their mother told them that it must have been the angel who watches over good children.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Phencyclidine, a substance of abuse also know as 'angel dust', can cause physical and psychological distresses, such as coma, seizures, convulsions, respiratory depression, and cardiac problems.

(Phencyclidine, NCI Thesaurus)

He would tell you that she was an angel upon earth.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To the believer, clouds of angels and confessors, and martyrs, armies of the sainted and the saved, were ever stooping over their struggling brethren upon earth, raising, encouraging, and supporting them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have never seen a countenance in which the angel and the devil were more obviously wedded.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)