Mandaean

American  

[man-dee-uhn] / mænˈdi ən /

Or Mandean

noun

1. a member of an ancient Gnostic sect extant in Iraq.

2. the Aramaic language of the Mandaean sacred books.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Mandaeans.

Mandaean British  

/ mænˈdɪən /

noun

1. a member of a Gnostic sect of Iraq

2. the form of Aramaic used by this sect

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adjective

1. of or relating to this sect

Other Word Forms

• Mandaeanism noun

Etymology

Origin of Mandaean

1870–75; < Mandaean mandayy ( ā ) Gnostics (literally, the knowing ones) + -an

Example Sentences

The women, shrouded in white and their hair tucked under headdresses, went into the river first, receiving their blessings in a Mandaean dialect of Jesus’s native tongue, Aramaic.

From Washington Times • Oct. 17, 2018

One Mandaean applicant has been waiting in Vienna for 16 months, court documents show.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2018

Betfred are badly out of line over the prospects of Mandaean in the contest they sponsor, the Dante Stakes, quoting the Godolphin runner at 9-4.

From The Guardian • May 16, 2012

Residents in Worcester, Mass., also have looked with curiosity as hundreds of recently resettled Iraqi refugees, who practice the pre-Christian Mandaean religion, hold early morning baptisms in Lake Quisigamond.

From Washington Post • Nov. 10, 2011

In the Mandaean speculations the Seven are introduced with the Babylonian names of the planets.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 2 "Gloss" to "Gordon, Charles George" by Various