The word angel comes from a Greek word meaning messenger . According to religious tradition, angels live in heaven and act as God's servants and as messengers between God and human beings. They also serve as guardians of individuals and nations. Angels traditionally are pictured as having a human body and wings. Various poets and artists have portrayed angels as symbols of innocence or virtue.
Most religions have teachings about angels or similar beings.
In some primitive religions, legends tell of bright, powerful spirits that appear in dreams and visions and protect people or tribes. In Hinduism and Buddhism, many major gods are accompanied by a band or court of spiritual beings. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the religion of the Muslims, have the most elaborate doctrines about angels. These religions recognize an order of beings to which angels rank above human beings but under God. The concept of angels with a human body and wings began in the Old Testament, the basis of Judaism.