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 天使(圣经中侍奉上帝的生有翅膀的天使,古代中东艺术中表现为人脸鹰翅的狮子或公牛,传统基督教天使学中被奉为九级天使中的第二级) ■(pl. cherubim 或 cherubs)a representation of a cherub in art, depicted as a chubby, healthy-looking child with wings (绘画艺术)小天使 ■(pl. cherubs)a beautiful or innocent-looking child 漂亮的幼童;天真的孩童
语源
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 kē-raḇyā 'like a child', led to the representation of the cherub as a child