Ariel
/ˈɛəriəl/noun
Ariel is a personal name of Hebrew origin and a literary spirit in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Did you know?In Isaiah, Ariel can refer poetically to Jerusalem, while in Ezekiel a related form may describe an altar hearth, giving the name both leonine and ritual associations.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
ʾil
“God or deity; the ancient Semitic divine element later appearing as El”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
אֲרִיאֵל (Ari’el)
“Usually interpreted as “lion of God”; a poetic name for Jerusalem in Isaiah and a term associated with an altar hearth in Ezekiel”
3rd–2nd Century BCE
Greek
Ἀριήλ (Ariēl)
“Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name in the Septuagint tradition”
Late Antiquity
Latin
Ariel
“Latin form of the biblical personal name”
1611
English
Ariel
“The airy spirit serving Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest”
Modern English
English
Ariel
“A given name, and sometimes a literary or mythological name for a spirit”