Sabellian
adj, name, noun
adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A member of a group of early Italian peoples comprising the Sabines, Samnites, and others.
- 2 A follower of the Roman Christian prelate and theologian Sabellius.
- 3 an extinct Osco-Umbrian language of ancient Italy that survives only in a few inscriptions wordnet
- 4 A Modalistic Monarchian; someone who believes that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the same person.
Adjective
- 1 Of or pertaining to the Sabellian language. not-comparable
Proper Noun
- 1 A certain language once spoken in Umbria, Italy.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Latin Sabellus + -ian, pertaining to the Sabellī, an Italic tribe, from Proto-Italic *saβn- (whence also Samnium, Samnones, Sabus, Sabīnus), perhaps from an uncertain Proto-Indo-European root, sometimes identified with the reflexive pronoun *swé (“self”) for the assumed meaning “one's own” (compare Proto-Germanic *swēbaz for a similar etymology), but this is highly suspect on phonetic grounds.
Etymology 2
From Sabellius + -an.
Related phrases
More for "sabellian"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.