Etymologically
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angelo

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈan.d͡ʒe.lo/[1]

Forms

angelo m (plural angeli)[1] The Tuscan form is angiolo, and the old popular form agnolo, which Tommaseo still heard in 19th-century Tuscany.[2][3][4] Old northern forms include Venetian anzolo and ançolo and Milanese angin.[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin angelus (“angel”), borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger, envoy”).[6][7][8][1][5] The Greek translators of the Old Testament used “ángelos” to render the Hebrew word for a messenger of God, and, from Christian Greek the sense passed into Christian Latin.[6][7][8]

Although it is a word of the Church, LEI notes that its sound development in Italian is the normal popular one.[5] The same word is French ange, Occitan angel, Catalan àngel, Spanish ángel, Portuguese anjo, Sardinian ànghelu and Romanian înger.[7][5][9]

The Greek word is probably a borrowing from an eastern language, like the Greek word for a mounted courier of the Persian king, the source of angheria.[7][6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Ritmo cassinese, of the late 12th or early 13th century, with the sense “a being between God and man”.[6][5] The TLIO's first record is in the Cremonese poet Uguccione da Lodi, early in the 13th century.[10]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini wrote angiolo before 1294, Jacopone agnelo before 1306, and agnolo is found in Federico Frezzi before 1416.[6] Tommaseo noted in 1865 that Tuscans still said Agnolo and Michelagnolo, although the artist's name was usually written Michelangelo and its adjective michelangiolesco.[6][4]

The figurative sense, a person of extraordinary virtue or beauty, is found as agnolo in Frezzi and as angelo in Paolo Segneri in 1679.[6] In the poetry of the Dolce Stil Novo the beloved lady is a donna angelo.[2][10] Old Italian also used the word for a French gold coin bearing an angel.[10][8]

Angelico is recorded from before 1250, in Giacomo da Lentini.[6] The plant angelica (before 1577) was named for its medicinal virtues, and angelus, the prayer that begins Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae, is recorded in 1863 and in 1875.[6]

Timeline

  • Late 12th or early 13th century – Angelo in the Ritmo cassinese.[6][5]
  • Before 1250 – Angelico in Giacomo da Lentini.[6]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini writes angiolo.[6]
  • Before 1306 – Agnelo in Jacopone da Todi.[6]
  • Before 1416 – Agnolo in Federico Frezzi, also for a person of angelic virtue.[6]
  • Before 1577 – Angelica as the name of a plant, in Pietro Andrea Mattioli.[6]
  • 1679 – Angelo for a person of great virtue or beauty in Paolo Segneri.[6]
  • 1875 – Angelus for the prayer in Luigi Settembrini.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (religion) An angel: a purely spiritual being created by God, his messenger and minister to humankind, usually shown as a beautiful winged youth.[8][2][3][11]
  2. In the Old Testament, a superhuman being who acts as God's messenger.[8]
  3. (figurative) A person of great beauty, goodness or purity; also as a term of endearment: Grazie, sei un angelo![8][2][3][12]
  4. (figure skating) A figure done on one leg, with the other stretched out behind in line with the body.[8][3][12]
  5. (historical) An old gold coin of France and England bearing the image of an angel.[8][10]
  6. (historical) A chain shot, two half cannonballs joined by a chain, used against the masts of sailing ships.[8][3][11]

Word family

  • angelico
  • angelica
  • angioletto
  • angiolino
  • arcangelo
  • angelus
  • angheria
  • Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos)

Usage notes

Common phrases are angelo custode (guardian angel; jokingly, an escort or a police officer guarding a prisoner), angelo del focolare (the devoted housewife, now ironic), discutere sul sesso degli angeli (to argue about pointless questions) and lunedì dell'Angelo (Easter Monday).[2][12][11][13] Angelo di mare is the angel shark.[3][8] Angelo is also a man's name.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli