Meanings
cherubim1
- pluralplural of cherub
The kennels occupied a long brick building designed to resemble the palace in miniature. Inside, the walls were painted with murals of dogs frolicking in the woods and giving chase to a frightened fox while chubby canine cherubim smiled down at them.
2010, Pseudonymous Bosch [pseudonym; Raphael Simon], “The Royal Kennels”, in This Isn’t What It Looks Like (The Secret Series; 4), New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN; republished London: Usborne, 2014, →ISBN
plural cherubims
- A cherub.
Again, if we put the two cherubims on each side but still on the lid, the size of the Ark doesn't allow enough space for a King, […]
2014, Rebecca Tourniaire, King of the Ark, page 441 more example
As he looks up at the organ, Miss Tox in the gallery shrinks behind the fat leg of a cherubim on a monument, with cheeks like a young Wind, Captain Cuttle, on the contrary, stands up and waves his hook, in token of welcome and encouragement.
1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC
Cherubim2
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Hebrewכְּרוּבִים
- Ancient Greekχερουβίν
- Latincherūbīn
- Old Englishcerubin
- Middle Englishcherubin
- Englishcherubim
From Middle English cherubin, cherubine, cherubym, cherubyn, cherybin, gerubin, jerubin, from Old English cerubin, cerubim, ceruphin, cherubin, from Latin cherūbīn, cherūbīm, from Ancient Greek χερουβίν (kheroubín), χερουβείν (kheroubeín), χερουβίμ (kheroubím), from Hebrew כְּרוּבִים (k'ruvím), from כְּרוּב (kruv) + ־ִים (-ím).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cherubim. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cherubim
“cherubim.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cherubim. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cherubim,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cherubim.
Source: cherubim on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.