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gospel

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gospel¹

  • /ˈɡɒspəl/ UK
  • /ˈɡɑspəl/ US

Where it comes from

From Middle English gospel, gospell, godspel, godspell, goddspell, from Old English godspell (“gospel”), corresponding to God + spell (“talk, tale, story”), literally “the message of God”, believed to be an alteration of earlier *gōdspell (literally “good news”), used to translate ecclesiastical Latin bona annūntiātiō, itself a translation of Ecclesiastical Latin ēvangelium / Ancient Greek εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion, “evangel”, literally “good news”) (English evangel). Compare Old Saxon gōdspel and godspell (“gospel”), Old High German and Middle High German gotspel (“gospel”), Icelandic guðspjall (“gospel”), and the modern calque Malayalam സുവിശേഷം (suviśēṣaṁ).

noun gospels

  1. countable, uncountable The first section of the Christian New Testament scripture, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, concerned with the birth, ministry, passion, and resurrection of Jesus.
  2. countable, uncountable An account of those aspects of Jesus' life, generally written during the first several centuries of the Common Era.
  3. countable, uncountable The teaching of Divine grace as distinguished from the Law or Divine commandments.
  4. countable, uncountable A message expected to have positive reception or effect, one promoted as offering important (or even infallible) guiding principles. Spreading the gospel of dental hygiene in Vermont
  5. uncountable That which is absolutely authoritative (definitive). We took her words for gospel.
  6. uncountable Gospel music.

Similar: evangel

gospel²

  • /ˈɡɒspəl/ UK
  • /ˈɡɑspəl/ US

Where it comes from

From Middle English gospellen, from Old English godspellian (“to preach the gospel, evangelise”), from the noun (see above).

verb gospels · gospeling · gospelling · gospeled · gospelled

  1. transitive To instruct in, declare, or communicate the gospel; to evangelise. Are you so gospelled, to pray for this good man and for his issue, whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave and beggared yours forever?

Gospel³

noun Gospels

  1. alternative Alternative form of gospel

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: evangel, gospel truth, creed, church doctrine, religious doctrine, bible, evangelical, evangelic, evangelization, evangelism, angel, blessing, lecturing, floor, pure, engel

noun

Similar: evangel

Translations

Every language

noun first section of New Testament

Españolevangelio, Buena Nueva
한국어복음서 bogeumseo
日本語福音書 fukuinsho
中文福音書 /福音书 fúyīnshū
हिन्दीसुसमाचार susamācār, इंजील iñjīl
Kiswahiliinjili
Portuguêsevangelho
Françaisévangile
DeutschEvangelium
Italianovangelo
Ελληνικάευαγγέλιο evangélio
Românăevanghelie
Русскийева́нгелие jevángelije
Tiếng Việtphúc âm, tin mừng
العربيةإِنْجِيل ʔinjīl
עבריתבְּשׂוֹרָה bsorá

noun account of the life, death, and teachings of Jesus

日本語福音 fukuin
हिन्दीसुसमाचार susamācār, इंजील iñjīl
Portuguêsevangelho
Françaisévangile
DeutschEvangelium
Ελληνικάευαγγέλιο evangélio
Русскийева́нгелие jevángelije

noun message expected to have positive reception or effect

עבריתבְּשׂוֹרָה bsorá

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Cite this
MLA

"gospel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gospel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

gospel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gospel

Chicago

"gospel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gospel.

BibTeX
@misc{gospel_2026,
  title = {gospel},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gospel},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}