cherub
Syllables: che·rub/ˈt͡ʃɛ.ɹəb/
cherub noun: 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.
Noun
cherub (plural cherubs or cherubim or cherubims or (obsolete) cherubin)
- 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.
- 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.
- Over the arcke were the cherubyns off glory shadowynge the seate of grace.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
- 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.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:24
- In later texts changed to a winged baby; in artistic depictions sometimes a baby's head with wings but no body.
- 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...1611, Robert Abbot, “Of Images”, in The Second Part of the Defence of the Reformed Catholicke. […], London: Impensis Thomæ Adams, →OCLC, page 1164
- 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.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
- A person, especially a child, seen as being particularly angelic or innocent.
- Patience, thou young and rose-lipp'd Cherubin.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...
- This fell whore of thine, / Hath in her more deſtruction then thy Sword, / For all her Cherubin looke.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...
cherub meaning in Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam and Tagalog
cherub in Hindi
- (biblical) winged creature attending on God
- करूब karūb
cherub in Bengali
- ডানাওয়ালা শিশুসুলভ স্বর্গদূত
cherub in Malayalam
- angel, seraph
- മാലാഖ, ദെെവദൂതൻ, പുണ്യാളൻ
- baby, infant, toddler
- കുഞ്ഞുമാലാഖ, ശിശു, കുഞ്ഞ്, വാവ, അരുമക്കുുഞ്ഞ്, ഓമനക്കുഞ്ഞ്
cherub in Tagalog
- (biblical) winged creature attending on God
- kerubin
More languagesFewer languages
- cherub in Arabic
- كَارُوبِيم kārūbīm, شِيرُوبِيم šīrūbīm
- cherub in Malay
- kerubin, kerubian, kerub
- cherub in Indonesian
- kerub
- cherub in Thai
- เครูบ
Examples of cherub in a sentence
- About his Chariot numberleſs were pour'd / Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones, / And Vertues, winged Spirits, and Chariots wing'd, […]1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...
- O Daughter of the Roſe, […] / Whoſe Face is Paradiſe, but fenc'd from Sin: / For God in either Eye has plac'd a Cherubin.1700, [John] Dryden, “To Her Grace the Dutchess of Ormond, with the Following Poem of Palamon and Arcite, from Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient...
- 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!1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Whiteness of the Whale”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper...
- 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.1872 January, [Christina Rossetti], “A Christmas Carol [In the Bleak Midwinter]”, in J[osiah] G[ilbert] Holland, editor, Scribner’s...
Synonyms of cherub
Forms of cherub
| plural | cherubs |
|---|---|
| plural | cherubim |
| plural | cherubims |
| plural (obsolete) | cherubin |
Origin of cherub
From Middle English cherub, cherube, cherubin, cherubine, cherubym, cherubyn, cherybin, gerubin, jerubin (“angel of the second highest order; depiction of such an angel”), from Old English cerubin, cerubim, ceruphin, cherubin, from Latin cherūbīm, cherūbīn, from Ancient Greek χερουβῑ́μ (kheroubī́m), χερουβείν (kheroubeín), χερουβίμ (kheroubím), from Hebrew כְּרוּבִים (k'ruvím);. 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)). The English word is cognate with French chérubin, Italian cherubino, Old Spanish cherubin (modern Spanish querubín), Galician querubín, Portuguese querubim.
Words formed from cherub
Questions about cherub
- What does cherub mean?
- Cherub means 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.
- What is cherub in Hindi?
- Cherub in Hindi is करूब (karūb). See Cherub meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use cherub in a sentence?
- About his Chariot numberleſs were pour'd / Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones, / And Vertues, winged Spirits, and Chariots wing'd, […]
- What part of speech is cherub?
- Cherub is a noun.
- How do you pronounce cherub?
- Cherub is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɛ.ɹəb/ (UK).
- What is the plural of cherub?
- The plural of cherub is cherubs.
Words near cherub in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cherub (page history and authors); cherub (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cherub (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-cherub.oga.
Cite this entry: “cherub.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cherub. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.