gospel means 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. It carries an Arena rating of 1398, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, gospel ranks #896 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,517 of 14,297 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
gospel is pronounced /ˈɡɒspəl/.
Why “gospel” is a great word
The foundational proclamation of the Christian faith, concerning the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. From Middle English gospel, godspel, from Old English godspell ("gospel"), a compound of god ("good" or "God") and spell ("news, story"), translating Ecclesiastical Latin evangelium, from Greek euangelion ("good news"), from eu- ("good") + angelion ("message, announcement"). Unlike "evangel," its more technical sibling, or "doctrine," a codified body of principles, gospel carries the weight of a foundational narrative, a story meant to be proclaimed and lived. It is the itinerant preacher's voice cracking on a street corner, the worn leather of a grandmother's Bible, the sudden hush when a room agrees without speaking that this, finally, is the thing that matters—the human hunger for news so good it must be shouted, then whispered, then passed hand to hand like bread.
Etymology
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
- 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.
- An account of those aspects of Jesus' life, generally written during the first several centuries of the Common Era.
- The teaching of Divine grace as distinguished from the Law or Divine commandments.
- 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”
- That which is absolutely authoritative (definitive).“took her words for gospel”
- Gospel music.
verb
- 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?”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- evangel 87% match — The Christian gospel. vs gospel →
- evangely 86% match — The "good news" revealed by the Gospel; redemption. vs gospel →
- evangelical 86% match — Pertaining to the doctrines or teachings of the Christian gospel or Christianity in general. vs gospel →
- bible 84% match — A comprehensive manual that describes something, or a publication with a loyal readership; a foundational text. vs gospel →
- scripture 82% match — The foundational text of a given religion, or a text considered especially holy. vs gospel →
- monotessaron 82% match — A harmony of the four Gospels. vs gospel →
- evangelize 82% match — To tell people about (a particular branch of) Christianity, especially in order to convert them; to preach the gospel to. vs gospel →
- mythicism 81% match — The scholarly opinion that the gospels are mythological expansions of historical data. vs gospel →