ser·aph

(sĕr′əf)

n. pl. ser·a·phim (-ə-fĭm) or ser·aphs

1. Bible A celestial being having three pairs of wings.

2. seraphim Christianity The first of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology.

[Back-formation from pl. seraphim, from Middle English seraphin, from Old English, from Late Latin seraphīn, seraphīm, from Greek serapheim, from Hebrew śərāpîm, pl. of śārāp, fiery serpent, seraph, from śārap, to burn; see śrp in Semitic roots.]

se·raph′ic (sə-răf′ĭk), se·raph′i·cal (-ĭ-kəl) adj.

se·raph′i·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Adj.

seraphical - of or relating to an angel of the first order; "he imagined a seraphic presence in the room"

seraphic

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References in periodicals archive

Jessopp "has never been able to feel much enthusiasm for Donne as a poet" whereas to me, even to his last seraphical hour in his bedchamber at St.

Dr. Donne & Sir Edmund Gosse

William Cartwright, already noted for his |florid and seraphical sermons', preached on his return with the King from Edgehill.(3) William Strode, another priest, was waiting, in his capacity as University Orator, to answer with a |gratulatory Replication' the King's speech to the City and the University upon his arrival.

An Oxford garrison of poets in 1642

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