different between cherub vs cherubim

English

Etymology

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 cher?b?n, cher?b?m, from Ancient Greek ???????? (kheroubín), ????????? (kheroubeín), ???????? (kheroubím), from Hebrew ??????????? (k'ruvím); further etymology uncertain.

The English and Middle English word cherub(e) is derived from Latin cherub (“cherub”) (the singular form of cher?b?m, cher?b?n), from Ancient Greek ?????? (kheroúb), ultimately from Hebrew ???????? (kerúv). 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 ??????????? (k'ruvím)).

The English word is cognate with French chérubin, Italian cherubino, Old Spanish cherubin (modern Spanish querubín), Galician querubín, Portuguese querubim.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: ch?r??b, IPA^(key): /?t??.??b/
• Hyphenation: che?rub

Noun

cherub (plural cherubs or cherubim or cherubims)

1. (biblical) A winged creature attending God, described by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (c. 5th–6th century) as the second highest order of angels, ranked above thrones and below seraphim; similar to a lamassu in the pre-exilic texts of the Hebrew Bible, more humanoid in later texts.
2. An artistic depiction of such a being, typically in the form of a winged child or a child's head with wings but no body.

   Synonyms: amoretto, cupid, putto
3. (figuratively) A person, especially a child, seen as being particularly angelic or innocent.

   Synonyms: angel, innocent

Alternative forms

• cherubin (obsolete)

Derived terms

• cherubic
• cherubically
• cherubism

Translations

Notes

References

Further reading

• cherub on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Bucher

Dutch

Etymology

More recent than cherubijn. Borrowed from Latin cherub, from Ancient Greek ?????? (kheroúb), ultimately from Biblical Hebrew ???????? (k'rúv).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?xe?.r?p/
• Hyphenation: che?rub

Noun

cherub m (plural cherubs, diminutive cherubje n)

1. cherub
   1. (biblical, historical) lamassu-like angel
   2. (biblical, religion) six-winged humanoid angel
   3. (art) putto

Synonyms

• (all senses): cherubijn

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ?????? (kheroúb), ultimately from Hebrew ???????? (kerúv).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?k?e.rub/, [?k????b]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ke.rub/, [?k???ub]

Noun

cherub m (irregular, genitive cherub)

1. (indeclinable, Christianity) cherub
   • 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Exodus 25:18 & 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Exodus 25:19

     duos quoque cherubin aureos et productiles facies ex utraque parte oraculi

     cherub unus sit in latere uno et alter in altero

   • (Can we date this quote?) Nova Vulgata, Exodus 25:18&19

     Duos quoque cherubim aureos et productiles facies ex utraque parte propitiatorii,

     cherub unus sit in latere uno et alter in altero

     And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

     And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end

   • 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Ezechiel 9:3

     et gloria Domini Israhel adsumpta est de cherub quae erat super eum ad limen domus et vocavit virum qui indutus erat lineis et atramentarium scriptoris habebat in lumbis suis

   • Nova Vulgata, Ezechiel 9:3

     Et gloria Dei Israel elevata est de cherub, super quem erat, ad limen domus; et vocavit virum, qui indutus erat lineis et atramentarium scriptoris habebat in lumbis suis.

Declension

Mostly indeclinable (with a distinct plural).

Descendants

Many of the following are technically from the plural cherubin reinterpreted as a singular.

• ? Catalan: querubí
• ? Dutch: cherub
• ? German: Cherub
• ? English: cherub
• ? French: chérubin
• ? Galician: querubín
• ? Italian: cherubino
• ? Portuguese: querubim
• ? Spanish: querubín, querub
  • ? Tagalog: kerubin

References

• cherub in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cherub in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

English

Etymology

Hebrew ???????? (keruvím), from ???????? (kerúv) + ???? (-im) masculine plural suffix.

Pronunciation

Noun

cherubim

1. plural of cherub

See also

• seraphim

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?k?e.ru.bim/, [?k????b???]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ke.ru.bim/, [?k???ubim]

Noun

cher?b?m

1. plural of cherub