angelic

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French angelique, now angélique, or directly borrowed from Late Latin angelicus (“of or relating to angels”),^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek ἀγγελικός (angelikós, “of or for a messenger”),^[2][4][6] in Byzantine Greek also "of angels", from ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger, angel”), the source of angel, and the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[2][4][3] The French adjective is recorded from about 1265 for "of angels", since the 14th century also for "like an angel";^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 13th century.^[4] The Latin word meant "of angels" in Tertullian, late in the 2nd century, "like an angel" early in the 3rd, and "monastic, ascetic" by the 5th.^[2] It is matched by angèlic, angélico, angélico and angelico.^[2] The variant angelical is formed with -al.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Like an angel, or befitting one: about 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde (in a manuscript from before 1413).^[2] Etymonline has the sense "consisting of angels" from the early 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The two main senses arrived close together: "like an angel" in Chaucer, and "of or relating to angels" from about 1450, in a translation of the Book of the Knight of La Tour Landry.^[2] Etymonline records the sense "wonderfully pure, sweet" from the early 16th century,^[4] and the OED notes that "like an angel" is used especially of beauty, sweet innocence or goodness.^[2] From 1826 angelic was an epithet of Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor.^[2][5] As a noun it named a member of an ancient sect that worshipped angels (before 1555), after the Latin plural angelici in Augustine,^[2] and since 1737 a nun of the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul, founded in Milan in 1535.^[2] In London slang of 1821, angelics were unmarried young women.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1385 – like an angel, in Chaucer.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense to the late 14th century.^[4]
• c. 1450 – of or relating to angels.^[2]
• before 1555 – noun, a member of a sect that worshipped angels.^[2]
• 1737 – noun, a nun of the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul.^[2]
• 1821 – noun, slang, an unmarried young woman.^[7]
• 1826 – an epithet of Thomas Aquinas.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or coming from angels: an angelic choir.^[8][3][2]
2. Like an angel in beauty, innocence or goodness; saintly: Her angelic smile hid a talent for mischief.^[8][3][2]

Word family

• angelically
• angelicalness
• nonangelic
• superangelic

Related words

• angel
• angelical
• angelica
• archangel
• evangelical
• evangelist

Usage notes

A separate adjective angelic, in chemistry, is formed from angelica and used chiefly in angelic acid, an acid obtained from the plant; it is recorded from 1843 and follows French acide angélique and German Angelikasäure.^[2][5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins