Meaning & use
seraphim
Last updated
Meanings
nounpluralreligion
The highest rank of angels, often pictured with six wings and shining with light.
Grammar: Plural form of seraph; takes a plural verb.
Patterns
- the seraphim of something
The ceiling painting showed seraphim surrounding the throne.
In the old text, the seraphim sang praise day and night.
Medieval artists painted the seraphim with red wings.
nounpluralliteraryfigurative
Angelic beings in general, used figuratively to describe heavenly beauty or purity.
Grammar: Used poetically.
The choir's voices sounded like seraphim.
She described the pale clouds as drifting seraphim.
The poet imagined seraphim in every sunrise.
Word forms
| singular | seraph |
|---|
Common combinations
- choir of seraphim
- A choir of seraphim appears in the window.
- six-winged seraphim
- Six-winged seraphim hover above the altar.
- seraphim and cherubim
- Seraphim and cherubim are often paired in sermons.
- heavenly seraphim
- The poem opens with heavenly seraphim.
Synonyms and how they differ
- angels
- Angels is the general word for heavenly messengers, while seraphim names only the highest rank.
- cherubim
- Cherubim are another order of angels, usually shown as winged children in later art, so they are not the same rank.
- heavenly host
- Heavenly host refers to the whole company of angels, not one rank.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: seraphim or cherubim?
seraphim vs cherubim
Cherubim are a different order of angels; seraphim are said to be higher.
Practice
Which is the singular form of seraphim?
Choose one answer.
Seraph is the singular. Seraphims is incorrect since seraphim is already plural, and seraphic is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “seraphim”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.