serape

[Sp.) A blanket or shawl worn as an outer garment by the Mexicans and other natives of Spanish North America. ser-aph ( pl . sěraphs, ser-a-phim, *ser-aphims), s . [Heb. seraphim=(1) serpents, (2) seraphs; saraph to be noble; Fr. séraphim ; Spanish seraphim , serafin ; Ital. serafino .] 1. Ord . Lang. & Script .: An angel of the highest order. They are mentioned in the Bible only in Isaiah vi. 2,6. They were of human form, with six wings, with two of which they covered their faces, with the next two flew, and with the last two covered their feet. They resembled the cherubim, which, however, had four wings and four faces. "Fly, Seraphs! to your eternal shore, Where winds nor howl nor waters roar." Byron: Heaven and Earth , 1. 3. Sometimes seraphim , really a Hebrew plural, is used as if it were a singular. [2, 3.] 2. Entom .: The genus Lobophora, belonging to the Larentide, and spec. Lobophora hex apter at a , in which there is an additional lobe to the hinder wings, giving the moth the appearance of a six winged creature, whence the name Seraphim. It occurs in England. 3. Palæont.: A popular name for the genus Pterygotus (q. v.). sẽ-răph'-Ic, *sẽ răph-Ic-al, adj. [Fr. séraph ique; Sp. seraphico.] 1. Pertaining to a seraph; angelic, sublime; of the nature of a seraph. 2. Pure: refined from sensuality. "Or whether he at last descends To like with le seraphick ends." Swift. (Todd.) 3. Burning or inflamed with love or zeal; zealous, ardent. "He [William Cartwright] became the most florid and seraphical preacher in the university."-Wood: Athen. Ozon., vol. ii. Seraphic doctor : A title given to St. Bonaven. ture, who became Minister-general of the Francis cans in 1256.