ministering angel

English

Noun

ministering angel (plural ministering angels)

1. A woman considered as a virtuous helper or carer.
   • c. 1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1:

     I tell thee, churlish priest,
     A ministering angel shall my sister be
     When thou liest howling.

   • 1808, Sir Walter Scott, Marmion, Canto VI, Stanza 30:

     O, Woman! in our hours of ease,
     Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
     And variable as the shade
     By the light quivering aspen made;
     When pain and anguish wring the brow,
     A ministering angel thou!

Sources

• "Ministering Angel", Cambridge Dictionary Online (accessed 2 October 2024)