Ebionite
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A member of an early Jewish Christian sect that lived in and around Judea and Palestine from the 1st to the 4th century. historical
"And if the pious bishop and martyr, St. Irenaeus, happen to drop any thing pointed against the Doctor's progenitors, the ancient Ebionites, of heretical memory, he gently passes it over as though no such passages occurred in that learned and venerable Father's writings."
- 2 a member of a group of Jews who (during the early history of the Christian Church) accepted Jesus as the Messiah; they accepted the Gospel According to Matthew but rejected the Epistles of St. Paul and continued to follow Jewish law and celebrate Jewish holidays; they were later declared heretic by the Church of Rome wordnet
- 1 of or relating to the Ebionites or their religion wordnet
Example
More examples"And if the pious bishop and martyr, St. Irenaeus, happen to drop any thing pointed against the Doctor's progenitors, the ancient Ebionites, of heretical memory, he gently passes it over as though no such passages occurred in that learned and venerable Father's writings."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek Ἐβιωναῖοι (Ebiōnaîoi), from Hebrew אביונים (Ebyonim, “the Poor Ones”), plural of Hebrew אֶבְיוֹן (ʾeḇyōn, “needy, poor”), itself likely a borrowing from Coptic ⲉⲃⲓⲏⲛ (ebiēn, “poor”).
Related phrases
More for "ebionite"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.