'angel-likeness' is a compound of 'angel' + '-likeness'. 'Angel' originates from Old English 'engel', via Latin 'angelus' from Greek 'angelos' meaning 'messenger'. The element 'likeness' comes from Old English components meaning 'similarity' (from 'gelīc'/'līc' meaning 'like, bodily form') combined with the noun-forming suffix '-ness'.

'angel' passed from Greek 'angelos' → Latin 'angelus' → Old English 'engel' → Middle/Modern English 'angel'. 'likeness' developed from Old English forms such as 'gelīcnysse' and Middle English 'liknesse' to the modern 'likeness'. The compound 'angel-likeness' follows productive Modern English compounding patterns to denote 'the state of resembling an angel'.

Originally 'angel' primarily meant 'messenger' in Greek and Latin religious texts; over time it came to denote the celestial being. 'Likeness' originally meant 'form, resemblance'. Combined, the meaning evolved to 'resembling an angel'—i.e., possessing angelic qualities such as purity and goodness.