Definition of "cherub" in English

noun

1. (biblical) A winged creature attending God and guarding his throne described as a being with four faces (man, lion, ox, and eagle), human hands, calf hooves, four wings, and many eyes. A description can be found in Ezekiel chapter 1 and Ezekiel chapter 10; similar to a lamassu (winged bull with a human torso) in the pre-exilic texts of the Hebrew Bible, more humanoid in later texts.

2. (post-biblical) A winged angel, described by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (c. 5th–6th century) as the second highest order of angels, ranked above thrones and below seraphim.

3. In later texts changed to a winged baby; in artistic depictions sometimes a baby's head with wings but no body.

4. (figuratively) A person, especially a child, seen as being particularly angelic or innocent.