Etymology

seraph

S1E1R1A1P3H4

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Latin seraphim ← Biblical Hebrew שְׂרָפִים
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The story

  1. Biblical Hebrew · derived fromשְׂרָפִים
  2. Latin · derived fromseraphim
  3. English todayseraph

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).

Words from the same roots

Latinseraphim all →

seraphim

Biblical Hebrewשְׂרָפִים all →

seraphim

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.