Gabriel

See also: gabriel, Gabríel, Gabriël, and Gabrïél

English

Etymology

From Latin Gabriel, from Ancient Greek Γαβρῑήλ (Gabrīḗl), from Hebrew גַּבְרִיאֵל (gaḇrīʾḗl, “God is my strong man”), from גֶּבֶר (géver, “strong man, hero”) and אֵל (ʾēl, “God, deity”), from Proto-Semitic *ʾil-. Doublet of Jibril.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡeɪbɹi.əl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Proper noun

Gabriel

1. A male given name from Hebrew.
   • 1629, Thomas Adams, Meditations upon Creed, The Works of Thomas Adams, James Nichol (1862), volume 3, page 212:

     Yea, it seems to me not fit for Christian humility to call a man Gabriel or Michael, giving the names of angels to the sons of mortality.

   • 1986, Paul Bailey, Gabriel's Lament, Viking, published 1987, →ISBN, page 20:

     "I'm the only Gabriel in the whole school," I told my father. "You don't have to whisper it from the tomb, lad. You should thank your mother and me for giving you a handle that people notice. You ought to be pleased, not down in the dumps. Backstreet Gabriels aren't bumped into on every corner, remember.

2. An archangel associated in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with carrying messages from God.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 9:21:
     :

     Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 1:26:
     :

     And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

3. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Derived terms

• San Gabriel
• Stoke Gabriel

Related terms

• pet form: Gabe
• female given names: Gabriela, Gabriella, Gabrielle

Translations

male given name

• Albanian: Gavril, Bjelli
• Arabic: جِبْرِيل (ar) (jibrīl) (used mainly by Muslims), جِبْرَائِيل (jibrāʔīl) (used mainly by Christians)
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܓܒܪܐܝܠ, ܓܒܪܝܐܝ

• Armenian: Գաբրիել (Gabriel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 加布里埃爾 (Jiābùlǐāiěr)

• Czech: Gabriel (cs) m
• Danish: Gabriel
• Esperanto: Gabrielo
• Finnish: Kaapo (fi)
• French: Gabriel (fr) m
• Galician: Gabriel (gl) m
• German: Gabriel (de) m
• Greek: Γαβριήλ (el) m (Gavriíl)
• Hausa: Jibirilu
• Hawaiian: Kapeliela
• Hebrew: גַּבְרִיאֵל (he) (gavriél)
• Hindi: जबराइल (hi) m (jabrāil), जब्रील (hi) m (jabrīl)
• Hungarian: Gábor (hu)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} Gaibriéil m
• Italian: Gabriele (it) m, Gabriello m
• Japanese: ガブリエル (Gaburieru)
• Korean: 가브리엘 (Gabeuriel)
• Latin: Gabriel m, Gabrihel m
• Macedonian: Га́врил (mk) m (Gávril)
• Malay: Jibril
• Maltese: Gabriel
• Maori: Kaperiere
• Norwegian: Gabriel (no)
• Persian: جبرئیل (fa) (jebra'il), (prescriptive) جبرییل (fa) (jebrayil), (literally) جبریل (jebril), گابریل (gâbriel)
• Polish: Gabriel (pl) m
• Portuguese: Gabriel (pt) m
• Russian: Гаврии́л (ru) m (Gavriíl)
• Spanish: Gabriel (es) m
• Swedish: Gabriel (sv)
• Ukrainian: Гаври́ло m (Havrýlo)
• Yiddish: גבֿריאל m (gavriyel)

archangel

• Amharic: ገብርኤል (gäbrəʾel)
• Arabic: جِبْرِيل (ar) (jibrīl) (used mainly by Muslims), جِبْرَائِيل (jibrāʔīl) (used mainly by Christians)
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܓܒܪܐܝܠ, ܓܒܪܝܐܝ

• Armenian: Գաբրիել (Gabriel)
• Azerbaijani: Cəbrayıl (az)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 加百列 (zh) (Jiābǎiliè), 加俾額爾／加俾额尔 (Jiābǐ'é'ěr) (Catholic)

• Czech: Gabriel (cs) m
• Danish: Gabriel
• Dutch: Gabriël (nl) m
• Esperanto: Gabrielo
• Finnish: Gabriel (fi)
• French: Gabriel (fr) m
• German: Gabriel (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌴𐌻 (gabriēl)
• Greek: Γαβριήλ (el) m (Gavriíl)

  Ancient: Γαβριήλ m (Gabriḗl)

• Hausa: Jibirilu
• Hawaiian: Gaberiela
• Hebrew: גבריאל (he)
• Hindi: जब्रील (hi) m (jabrīl), जबराइल (hi) m (jabrāil)
• Hungarian: Gábriel (hu)
• Icelandic: Gabríel (is) m, Gabriel m
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} Gaibriéil m
• Italian: Gabriele (it) m
• Kazakh: Жәбірейіл (Jäbıreiıl)
• Korean: 가브리엘 (Gabeuriel)
• Latin: Gabriel m
• Lisu: ꓚꓬ-ꓑꓷ-ꓡꓰ (tʃɑ-pɤ-le)
• Macedonian: Га́врил (mk) (Gávril) (Judaism, Christianity), Џи́брил (Džíbril) (Islam)
• Malay: Jibril
• Ngazidja Comorian: Djibril
• Norwegian: Gabriel (no)
• Persian: جبرئیل (fa) (jebra'il)
• Portuguese: Gabriel (pt) m
• Rohingya: Jibrail
• Russian: Гаврии́л (ru) m (Gavriíl)
• Spanish: Gabriel (es) m
• Swedish: Gabriel (sv) m
• Tatar: Җибрил (Cibril), Җәбраил (Cäbrail)
• Turkish: Cebrail (tr), Cebrâil (tr)
• Ukrainian: Гавриї́л (Havryjíl)
• Uyghur: جەبرائىل (jebra'il)
• Yiddish: גבֿריאל m (gavriyel)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} Cebrail (tr)

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ɡə.βɾiˈɛl]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ɡə.bɾiˈɛl]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ɡa.bɾiˈɛl]
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Proper noun

Gabriel m

1. Gabriel

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡabrɪjɛl]

Proper noun

Gabriel m anim

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Declension

Declension of Gabriel (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Gabriel	Gabrielové
genitive	Gabriela	Gabrielů
dative	Gabrielovi, Gabrielu	Gabrielům
accusative	Gabriela	Gabriely
vocative	Gabriele, Gabrieli	Gabrielové
locative	Gabrielovi, Gabrielu	Gabrielech
instrumental	Gabrielem	Gabriely

Danish

Proper noun

Gabriel

1. Gabriel (Archangel)
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Faroese

Proper noun

Gabriel m

1. a male given name

Usage notes

Patronymics

• son of Gabriel: Gabrielsson
• daughter of Gabriel: Gabrielsdóttir

Declension

	Singular
	Indefinite
Nominative	Gabriel
Accusative	Gabriel
Dative	Gabrieli
Genitive	Gabriels

Finnish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Γαβρῑήλ (Gabrīḗl), from Biblical Hebrew גַּבְרִיאֵל (gaḇrīʾḗl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɑ(ː)briel/, [ˈɡɑ̝(ː)brie̞l]
• Rhymes: -ɑbriel
• Syllabification^(key): Gab‧ri‧el

Proper noun

Gabriel

1. Gabriel (Archangel)
2. a male given name from Biblical Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Declension

Inflection of Gabriel (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		Gabriel	Gabrielit
genitive		Gabrielin	Gabrielien
partitive		Gabrielia	Gabrieleja
illative		Gabrieliin	Gabrieleihin
		singular	plural
nominative		Gabriel	Gabrielit
accusative	nom.	Gabriel	Gabrielit
	gen.	Gabrielin
genitive		Gabrielin	Gabrielien
partitive		Gabrielia	Gabrieleja
inessive		Gabrielissa	Gabrieleissa
elative		Gabrielista	Gabrieleista
illative		Gabrieliin	Gabrieleihin
adessive		Gabrielilla	Gabrieleilla
ablative		Gabrielilta	Gabrieleilta
allative		Gabrielille	Gabrieleille
essive		Gabrielina	Gabrieleina
translative		Gabrieliksi	Gabrieleiksi
abessive		Gabrielitta	Gabrieleitta
instructive		—	Gabrielein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Gabriel (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Gabrielini Gabrielini accusative nom. Gabrielini Gabrielini gen. Gabrielini genitive Gabrielini Gabrielieni partitive Gabrieliani Gabrielejani inessive Gabrielissani Gabrieleissani elative Gabrielistani Gabrieleistani illative Gabrieliini Gabrieleihini adessive Gabrielillani Gabrieleillani ablative Gabrieliltani Gabrieleiltani allative Gabrielilleni Gabrieleilleni essive Gabrielinani Gabrieleinani translative Gabrielikseni Gabrieleikseni abessive Gabrielittani Gabrieleittani instructive — — comitative — Gabrieleineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Gabrielisi Gabrielisi accusative nom. Gabrielisi Gabrielisi gen. Gabrielisi genitive Gabrielisi Gabrieliesi partitive Gabrieliasi Gabrielejasi inessive Gabrielissasi Gabrieleissasi elative Gabrielistasi Gabrieleistasi illative Gabrieliisi Gabrieleihisi adessive Gabrielillasi Gabrieleillasi ablative Gabrieliltasi Gabrieleiltasi allative Gabrielillesi Gabrieleillesi essive Gabrielinasi Gabrieleinasi translative Gabrieliksesi Gabrieleiksesi abessive Gabrielittasi Gabrieleittasi instructive — — comitative — Gabrieleinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Gabrielimme Gabrielimme accusative nom. Gabrielimme Gabrielimme gen. Gabrielimme genitive Gabrielimme Gabrieliemme partitive Gabrieliamme Gabrielejamme inessive Gabrielissamme Gabrieleissamme elative Gabrielistamme Gabrieleistamme illative Gabrieliimme Gabrieleihimme adessive Gabrielillamme Gabrieleillamme ablative Gabrieliltamme Gabrieleiltamme allative Gabrielillemme Gabrieleillemme essive Gabrielinamme Gabrieleinamme translative Gabrieliksemme Gabrieleiksemme abessive Gabrielittamme Gabrieleittamme instructive — — comitative — Gabrieleinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Gabrielinne Gabrielinne accusative nom. Gabrielinne Gabrielinne gen. Gabrielinne genitive Gabrielinne Gabrielienne partitive Gabrielianne Gabrielejanne inessive Gabrielissanne Gabrieleissanne elative Gabrielistanne Gabrieleistanne illative Gabrieliinne Gabrieleihinne adessive Gabrielillanne Gabrieleillanne ablative Gabrieliltanne Gabrieleiltanne allative Gabrielillenne Gabrieleillenne essive Gabrielinanne Gabrieleinanne translative Gabrieliksenne Gabrieleiksenne abessive Gabrielittanne Gabrieleittanne instructive — — comitative — Gabrieleinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative Gabrielinsa Gabrielinsa accusative nom. Gabrielinsa Gabrielinsa gen. Gabrielinsa genitive Gabrielinsa Gabrieliensa partitive Gabrieliaan Gabrieliansa Gabrielejaan Gabrielejansa inessive Gabrielissaan Gabrielissansa Gabrieleissaan Gabrieleissansa elative Gabrielistaan Gabrielistansa Gabrieleistaan Gabrieleistansa illative Gabrieliinsa Gabrieleihinsa adessive Gabrielillaan Gabrielillansa Gabrieleillaan Gabrieleillansa ablative Gabrieliltaan Gabrieliltansa Gabrieleiltaan Gabrieleiltansa allative Gabrielilleen Gabrielillensa Gabrieleilleen Gabrieleillensa essive Gabrielinaan Gabrielinansa Gabrieleinaan Gabrieleinansa translative Gabrielikseen Gabrieliksensa Gabrieleikseen Gabrieleiksensa abessive Gabrielittaan Gabrielittansa Gabrieleittaan Gabrieleittansa instructive — — comitative — Gabrieleineen Gabrieleinensa

Related terms

• male given names: Kaapo, Kaapro

Statistics

• Gabriel is the 368^th most common male given name in Finland, belonging to 858 male individuals (and as a middle name to 3,200 more, making it more common as a middle name), and also belongs to 5 female individuals (and as a middle name to 13 more, making it more common as a middle name), according to February 2023 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡa.bʁi.jɛl/

Proper noun

Gabriel m

1. Gabriel (Archangel)
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Related terms

• female given name: Gabrielle

Descendants

• → Alemannic German: Gaabi

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡaːbʀiˌeːl]

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ga‧bri‧el

Proper noun

Gabriel

1. (biblical) Gabriel (Archangel)
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Related terms

• feminine form: Gabriele

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Γαβρῑήλ (Gabrīḗl), from Biblical Hebrew גַּבְרִיאֵל (Gaḇrīʾḗl, “God is my strong man”), from גֶּבֶר (géver, “strong man, hero”) and אֵל (ʾēl, “God”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.bri.eːl/, [ˈɡäbrieːɫ̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.bri.el/, [ˈɡäːbriel]

Proper noun

Gabriēl m sg (variously declined, genitive Gabriēl or Gabriēlis); indeclinable, third declension

1. Gabriel

Declension

Indeclinable noun or third-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Gabriēl
Genitive	Gabriēl Gabriēlis
Dative	Gabriēl Gabriēlī
Accusative	Gabriēl Gabriēlem
Ablative	Gabriēl Gabriēle
Vocative	Gabriēl

Descendants

• → Albanian: Gabriel
• → Catalan: Gabriel, Biel
• → Czech: Gabriel
• → Danish: Gabriel
• → Dutch: Gabriël
  • Afrikaans: Gabriël
• → English: Gabriel
  • → Hawaiian: Kapeliela
  • → Maori: Kaperiere
• → Faroese: Gabriel, Gabrial, Brialdur
• → Finnish: Gabriel, Kaaperi, Kaapre, Kaaprel, Kaaprelli, Kaapo
• → French: Gabriel
  • → Alemannic German: Gaabi
• → Galician: Gabriel
• → Georgian: გაბრიელი (gabrieli)
• → German: Gabriel
• → Greenlandic: Kaapriale, Kapriali, Kaparialli
• → Gujarati: ગેબ્રિયલ (gebriyal)
• → Hindi: गेब्रियल (gebriyal)
• → Hungarian: Gabór, Gábriel
• → Icelandic: Gabríel
• → Irish: Gaibrial, Gaibriéil, Gaibriél
• → Italian: Gabriele
• → Japanese: ガブリエル (Gaburieru)
• → Kannada: ಗೇಬ್ರಿಯಲ್ (gēbriyal)
• → Korean: 가브리엘 (Gabeuriel)
• → Latvian: Gabriels
• → Lithuanian: Gabrielius
• → Maltese: Gabrijel
• → Norman: Gabriel
• → Norwegian: Gabriel
• → Persian: گابریل (gâbriel)
• → Polish: Gabriel
• → Portuguese: Gabriel, Biel
• → Romanian: Gabriel
• → Serbo-Croatian: Gabrijel
• → Slovak: Gabriel
• → Slovene: Gabrijel
• → Spanish: Gabriel
  • → Kapampangan: Gabriel
  • → Tagalog: Gabriel
• → Swedish: Gabriel, Gabrel
• → Welsh: Gabriel

References

• Gabriel in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Norman

Proper noun

Gabriel m

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Norwegian

Proper noun

Gabriel

1. Gabriel (Archangel).
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.brjɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -abrjɛl
• Syllabification: Ga‧briel

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin Gabriēl.

Proper noun

Gabriel m pers (female equivalent Gabriela, diminutive Gabryś)

1. a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek, in turn from Biblical Hebrew], equivalent to English Gabriel
2. (biblical) Gabriel (archangel)

Declension

Declension of Gabriel

	singular	plural
nominative	Gabriel	Gabrielowie/Gabriele (deprecative)
genitive	Gabriela	Gabrieli
dative	Gabrielowi	Gabrielom
accusative	Gabriela	Gabrieli
instrumental	Gabrielem	Gabrielami
locative	Gabrielu	Gabrielach
vocative	Gabrielu	Gabrielowie

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Proper noun

Gabriel f

1. genitive plural of Gabriela

Further reading

• Gabriel in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese Gabrïél.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɡa.bɾiˈɛw/ [ɡa.bɾɪˈɛʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /ɡaˈbɾjɛw/ [ɡaˈbɾjɛʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɡɐ.bɾiˈɛl/ [ɡɐ.βɾiˈɛɫ], (faster pronunciation) /ɡɐˈbɾjɛl/ [ɡɐˈβɾjɛɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɡɐ.bɾiˈɛl/ [ɡɐ.βɾiˈɛɫ], (faster pronunciation) /ɡɐˈbɾjɛl/ [ɡɐˈβɾjɛɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɡɐ.bɾiˈɛ.li/ [ɡɐ.βɾiˈɛ.li], (faster pronunciation) /ɡɐˈbɾjɛ.li/ [ɡɐˈβɾjɛ.li]

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɛl, (Brazil) -ɛw
• Hyphenation: Ga‧bri‧el

Proper noun

Gabriel m (plural Gabriéis)

2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel
4. (Christianity, Judaism) Gabriel (archangel who carries messages from God)

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡabri̯el]

Proper noun

Gabriel m anim (genitive singular Gabriela, nominative plural Gabrielovia, declension pattern of chlap)

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Declension

Declension of Gabriel

	singular	plural
nominative	Gabriel	Gabrielovia
genitive	Gabriela	Gabrielov
dative	Gabrielovi	Gabrielom
accusative	Gabriela	Gabrielov
locative	Gabrielovi	Gabrieloch
instrumental	Gabrielom	Gabrielmi

Derived terms

• Gabino
• Gabo
• Gábor
• Gabrielko
• Gábriš

 

Further reading

• “Gabriel”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈbɾjel/ [ɡaˈβ̞ɾjel]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: Ga‧briel

Proper noun

Gabriel m

1. Gabriel (Archangel)
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Related terms

• nickname: Gabo, Gabi
• female given name: Gabriela

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɑːbrɪɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Proper noun

Gabriel c (genitive Gabriels)

1. Gabriel (Archangel).
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel

Derived terms

• Gabi (diminutive)
• Gabo (diminutive)

Related terms

• female given name: Gabriella

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish Gabriel.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ɡabɾiˈel/ [ɡɐbˈɾjɛl]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: Gab‧ri‧el

Proper noun

Gabriél (Baybayin spelling ᜄᜊ᜔ᜇᜒᜌᜒᜎ᜔)

1. (biblical) Gabriel
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Gabriel
3. a surname from Spanish

Related terms

• Gabriela
• Gabrielle

 

Statistics

• According to data collected by Forebears in 2014, Gabriel is the 108th most common surname in the Philippines, occurring in 54,263 individuals.