noun
gospel
GOS-puhl
noun
1
Any of the four New Testament books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) recounting the life and teachings of Jesus.
"The reading was taken from the Gospel of Luke."
2
Something regarded as absolutely true or authoritative.
"Don't take everything he says as gospel."
3
A genre of religious music rooted in African American Christian tradition, marked by passionate vocals and call-and-response.
"The choir closed the service with a rousing gospel number."
How to Use Gospel
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishLiterally the New Testament books about Jesus's life; more loosely, anything treated as unquestionably true, or a genre of soulful religious music.
Common pairings
take it as gospel
gospel truth
gospel choir
Word Forms
gospeled past tense, gospelled past tense, gospels plural, gospels singular
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Etymology
From Old English godspell, literally "good news" (god + spell, "story"), coined to translate the Greek euangélion — the source of the English word "evangel."