Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Cherub

Cher′ub, n.; pl. Cherubs (#); but the Hebrew plural Cherubim (#) is also used. [Heb. kerūb.] 1. A mysterious composite being, the winged footstool and chariot of the Almighty, described in Ezekiel i. and x.

I knew that they were the cherubim. Ezek. x. 20.

He rode upon a cherub and did fly. Ps. xviii. 10.

2. A symbolical winged figure of unknown form used in connection with the mercy seat of the Jewish Ark and Temple. Ez. xxv. 18.

3. One of a order of angels, variously represented in art. In European painting the cherubim have been shown as blue, to denote knowledge, as distinguished from the seraphim (see Seraph), and in later art the children's heads with wings are generally called cherubs.

4. A beautiful child; — so called because artists have represented cherubs as beautiful children.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.