Standard Lemma guide

seraph

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • sĕrˈ -əf
  • /ˈsɛɹəf/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛɹəf
  • homophone: serif (one pronunciation)

1

noun

Meaning 1

A burning serpent, often winged, with human hands and sometimes feet; one of God's entourage. On Earth, they strike with burning poison; in Heaven, with burning coal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biblical, lifestyle, religion

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A six-winged angel; one of the highest choir or order of angels in Christian angelology, ranked above cherubim, and below God.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: post-biblical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

an angel of the first order; usually portrayed as the winged head of a child

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: angel

History

Etymology

Back-formation of singular from plural seraphim, from Latin seraphim, from Biblical Hebrew שְׂרָפִים (sərāp̄īm), plural form of שָׂרָף (sārāp̄). The plural "seraphims" occurs in the King James Bible (Isaiah chapter 6). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the singular "seraph" may have originated with John Milton, who used it in Book I of Paradise Lost (1667).

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: سَرَافِيم (sarāfīm) — high order of angels
  • Armenian: սերովբե (serovbe) — high order of angels
  • Bulgarian: серафим (serafim) — high order of angels
  • Chinese Mandarin: 熾天使 /炽天使 (chìtiānshǐ) — high order of angels
  • Czech: seraf — high order of angels
  • Czech: serafín — high order of angels
  • Danish: seraf — high order of angels
  • Dutch: seraf — high order of angels
  • Dutch: serafijn — high order of angels
  • Esperanto: serafo — high order of angels
  • Finnish: serafi — high order of angels
  • French: séraphin — high order of angels
  • German: Seraph — high order of angels
  • Greek: σεραφείμ (serafeím) — high order of angels
  • Greek: σεραφίμ (serafím) — high order of angels
  • Ancient Greek: σεράφ (seráph) — high order of angels
  • Ancient Greek: σεραφείν (serapheín) — high order of angels
  • Hebrew: שָׂרָף (saráf) — high order of angels
  • Hindi: साराप (sārāp) — high order of angels
  • Icelandic: serafi — high order of angels
  • Interlingua: seraphin — high order of angels
  • Interlingua: seraphino — high order of angels
  • Italian: serafino — high order of angels
  • Japanese: 熾天使 (shitenshi) — high order of angels
  • Kazakh: оттай жалындаған періште (ottai jalyndağan perışte) — high order of angels
  • Korean: 치천사 (chicheonsa) — high order of angels
  • Latin: seraph — high order of angels
  • Macedonian: серафим (serafim) — high order of angels
  • Norwegian: seraf — high order of angels
  • Polish: serafin — high order of angels
  • Portuguese: serafim — high order of angels
  • Romanian: serafim — high order of angels
  • Russian: серафи́м (serafím) — high order of angels
  • Serbo-Croatian: серафим — high order of angels
  • Serbo-Croatian: serafim — high order of angels
  • Spanish: serafín — high order of angels
  • Swedish: seraf — high order of angels
  • Tagalog: serapin — high order of angels
  • Telugu: సెరాపు (serāpu) — high order of angels
  • Ukrainian: серафи́м (serafým) — high order of angels