essene Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a member of an ascetic Jewish sect around the time of Jesus
  2. adjective said of or relating to the Essenes

WordNet

Es*sene" noun
Etymology
Gr. , lit., physicians, because they practiced medicine, fr. Chald asaya to heal, cf. Heb. asa.
Wordforms
plural Essenes
Definitions
  1. One of a sect among the Jews in the time of our Savior, remarkable for their strictness and abstinence.

Webster 1913