[saj-uh-see, sad-yuh-] 
| a member of a Palestinian sect, consisting mainly of priests and aristocrats, that flourished from the 1st century b.c. to the 1st century a.d. and differed from the Pharisees chiefly in its literal interpretation of the Bible, rejection of oral laws and traditions, and denial of an afterlife and the coming of the Messiah. |
| Sad·du·cee (sāj'ə-sē', sād'yə-) 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; see ṣdq in Semitic roots.] Sad'du·ce'an (-sē'ən) adj., Sad'du·cee'ism n. |
