Angel derives from words meaning messenger in both Hebrew and Greek

Evidence

It is interesting that the word used for ambassador in the Hebrew Bible is mal’akh, messenger, which of course later is specialized to mean one special sort of messenger—one sent by God, an angel. The Greek word angelos, from which angel comes, also means a messenger or envoy and was later similiarly specialized. The semantic evolution of the Hebrew mal’akh and the Greek angelos and its many derivatives in the languages of Christendom is parallel. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 766

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains that Hebrew mal’akh and Greek angelos both originally meant ‘messenger’ and were later specialized to mean angel.
• XREF: Semantic narrowing of words over time connects to the reader’s interest in communication and how language encodes meaning shifts.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 766