n.
A member of a priestly, aristocratic Jewish sect founded in the second century B.C. that accepted only the written Mosaic law and that ceased to exist after the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70.
[Middle English Saducee, from Old English Sadducēas, Sadducees, from Late Latin Sadducaeī, from Greek Saddoukaioi, from Mishnaic Hebrew ṣədûqî, after ṣādôq, Zadok, high priest in the time of David and Solomon, from ṣādôq, just, righteous, from ṣādaq, to be just.]
Sadducean Sad'du·ce'an (-sē'ən) adj.Sadduceeism Sad'du·cee'ism n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
