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cherub

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Definition of cherub

noun (plural cherubim)

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.
(plural cherubim /-bɪm/ or cherubs) a representation of a cherub in Western art, depicted as a chubby, healthy-looking child with wings.
(plural cherubs) a beautiful or innocent-looking child: a wistful cherub of eighteen months, photographed at her playgroup

Origin:

Old English cherubin, ultimately (via Latin and Greek) from Hebrew kĕrūḇ, plural kĕrūḇīm. A rabbinic folk etymology, which explains the Hebrew singular form as representing Aramaic kĕ-raḇyā 'like a child', led to the representation of the cherub as a child

cherub in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cherub in the US English dictionary

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