Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun plural The name given in later times to the Asmonæans, a family of Jewish patriots, who headed a religious revolt in the reign of Antiochus IV., 168-161 b. c., which led to a period of freedom for Israel.
  • noun plural The name of two ancient historical books, which give accounts of Jewish affairs in or about the time of the Maccabean princes, and which are received as canonical books in the Roman Catholic Church, but are included in the Apocrypha by Protestants. Also applied to three books, two of which are found in some MSS. of the Septuagint.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of Maccabee.
  • proper noun biblical A book of the Old Testament Apocrypha.
  • proper noun history A Jewish liberation movement who fought for, and established, independence in the Land of Israel during the second and first centuries BC.

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