释义
n.
a winged angelic being described in biblical tradition as attending on God, represented in ancient Middle Eastern art as a lion or bull with eagles' wings and a human face and regarded in traditional Christian angelology as an angel of the second highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy
天使(圣经中侍奉上帝的生有翅膀的天使,古代中东艺术中表现为人脸鹰翅的狮子或公牛,传统基督教天使学中被奉为九级天使中的第二级)。
(pl. cherubim或cherubs)a representation of a cherub in art, depicted as a chubby, healthy-looking child with wings
(绘画艺术)小天使。
(pl. cherubs)a beautiful or innocent-looking child
漂亮的幼童;天真的孩童。
词源
"Old English cherubin, ultimately (via Latin and Greek) from Hebrew kěrūḇ, plural kěrūḇīm. A rabbinic folk etymology, which explains the Hebrew singular form as representing Aramaic kē-raḇyā ‘like a child', led to the representation of the cherub as a child."