angelus

Forms

angelus m (genitive angelī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”).^[1][2][3] Augustine notes that the Greek word took a Latin declension as ⟨angelus⟩ and that its Latin equivalent is nūntius.^[4]

Isidore of Seville says the Son of God is called angelus because he announces the will of the Father.^[5] It is the source of Italian angelo^[6] and, through Old English and Old French, of English angel.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short give a doubtful instance in Seneca, in the sense “messenger”;^[8] otherwise it is a word of Christian writers, among them Tertullian,^[8][6][9] and of the Latin Asclepius attributed to Apuleius.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is a messenger, as in the Vulgate's Matthew 11:10,^[8] but in the Bible and the Church Fathers it is above all an angel, a messenger of God.^[8][10] It also has a bad sense: the Devil and his angels in Matthew 25:41, and the “angel of Satan” in 2 Corinthians 12:7.^[8] Augustine distinguishes the good angels, the angels of God, from the bad ones, the angels of the Devil or demons.^[4] Medieval Latin added a title of honour for the pope and bishops, a banner bearing the image of the archangel Michael, and the Angelus, the bell rung for evening prayer.^[11][12] Medieval writers also applied it to priests, bishops and monks.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of angels.^[8][6][12]
• 176–180 AD – An inscription at Ostia gives Angelus as an epithet of Jupiter of Heliopolis.^[4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it both of a messenger and of the angels of the Devil.^[8][12]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains it from announcing.^[5][12]
• c. 1300 – English angel takes its present form from Old English and Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A messenger.^[8][10]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An angel, a messenger of God.^[8][10][14]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An evil angel, a demon: angelus Satanae, an angel of Satan.^[8][11]
4. (Medieval Latin) A title of honour of the pope and of bishops.^[11][12]
5. (Medieval Latin) A banner bearing the image of the archangel Michael.^[11][13]
6. (Medieval Latin) The Angelus, the bell rung for evening prayer.^[11][12]

Word family

• angela
• angelicus
• angelificatus

Related words

• nūntius
• diabolus
• English angel

Usage notes

As a name, Angelus is an epithet of Jupiter on an inscription at Ostia and a slave's name in Roman inscriptions.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911)., p. 7.2.34
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
10. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
13. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
14. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.