Everyday LifeGreek → English
Angela
/ˈændʒələ/noun
A female given name, the feminine form of the Latin angelus.
The Greek roots
ἄγγελος
ángelos
messenger, envoy
Literally: “messenger”
Follow a root:ἄγγελος6 words
The story of the word
Before it meant a winged being, ἄγγελος meant a runner carrying news, a job title with nothing supernatural about it. The Jewish translators of the Hebrew Bible into Greek used it for God's messengers, and the religious sense swallowed the ordinary one. Evangelist is the same root with εὖ in front: bringer of good news.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
angelevangelistevangelical
In a sentence
Angela signs her emails with just an initial.