seraph
/ˈsɛɹəf/
"seraph" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“seraph” is uncommon English (frequency #59,007 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #59,007
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A burning serpent, often winged, with human hands and sometimes feet; one of God's entourage. On Earth, they strike with burning poison; in Heaven, with burning coal. A description can be found at ...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | seraph |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɛɹəf/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #59,007 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “seraph” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
seraph is uncommon English at frequency #59,007 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsɛɹəf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for seraph in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation of singular from plural seraphim, from Latin seraphim, from Biblical Hebrew שְׂרָפִים (sərāp̄īm), plural form of שָׂרָף (sārāp̄). The plural "seraphims" occurs in the King James Bible (Isaiah chapter 6). According to the Oxford English Dictio… The correct English form is seraph, spelled S-E-R-A-P-H.
Definition
- 1A burning serpent, often winged, with human hands and sometimes feet; one of God's entourage. On Earth, they strike with burning poison; in Heaven, with burning coal. A description can be found at the beginning of Isaiah chapter 6.
- 2A six-winged angel; one of the highest choir or order of angels in Christian angelology, ranked above cherubim, and below God.
Etymology
Back-formation of singular from plural seraphim, from Latin seraphim, from Biblical Hebrew שְׂרָפִים (sərāp̄īm), plural form of שָׂרָף (sārāp̄). The plural "seraphims" occurs in the King James Bible (Isaiah chapter 6). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the singular "seraph" may have originated with John Milton, who used it in Book I of Paradise Lost (1667).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Using “seraph”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-R-A-P-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɛɹəf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.