noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A member of the Maccabees (a liberation movement in Israel who established Jewish independence in the Land of Israel in the second and first centuries BCE).

Example

More examples

"The Maccabee king Alexander Jannaeus reportedly crucified 800 Pharisees."

Etymology

From the Latin Maccabaeus, from the Ancient Greek Μᾰκκᾰβαῖος (Măkkăbaîos), from the Biblical Hebrew מַכַּבִּי (makkabbī).

Related phrases

land of israel

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.