Mandæan, a. and n.
(ˈmændiːən)
Also Mandean, Mendæan.
[f. Mandæan Aramaic mandayyā (a rendering of Gr. γνωστικοί Gnostics: f. mandā knowledge, = late Heb. maddāﻋ, f. yādaﻋ to know) + -an.]
A. adj. The designation of a Gnostic sect still surviving in Mesopotamia, and of the Aramaic dialect in which their sacred books are written. B. n. a. A member of the Mandæan sect. b. The Mandæan language.
| 1875 Lightfoot Comm. Col. 165 note, These Mandeans are a rapidly diminishing sect living in the region about the Tigris. 1883 K. Kessler in Encycl. Brit. XV. 467/2 Mandæans, also known as Sabians, Nasoræans, or St. John's Christians, an Oriental sect of great antiquity. Ibid. 468/1 note, Mandæan MSS. occur in the British Museum [etc.]. Ibid. 468/2 Primal Life, who is properly speaking the Mandæan god. 1886 Ibid. XXI. 649/1 There is a close resemblance between Mandæan and the language of the Babylonian Talmud. 1900 Daily News 15 Aug. 6/2 A large number of Hebrew and Mandæan vases..were discovered. |