Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Essene

play
noun Es·sene \i-ˈsēn, ˈe-ˌsēn\

Definition of Essene

  1. :  a member of a monastic brotherhood of Jews in Palestine from the second century b.c. to the second century a.d.

Essenian

play \i-ˈsē-nē-ən, e-ˈsē-\ or

Essenic

play \i-ˈse-nik, -ˈsē-nik, e-\ adjective

Essenism

play \i-ˈsē-ˌni-zəm, e-\ noun

From the M-W Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz
alt-597a00ef4b9d7
'Motif' vs 'Leitmotif'
alt-5978a79b75e17
Trending: 'Transgender' Americans Face New Restrictions

Origin and Etymology of essene

Greek Essēnos

Learn More about essene

  1. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about Essene

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up Essene? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

fester

play

to become worse as time passes

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. transgender Trump reverses military policy allowing transgender people to serve

  2. beleaguer 'Being subjected to constant or repeated trouble or harassment'

  3. scaramouch A new White House communications director

  4. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  5. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-597a00ef4b9d7
'Motif' vs 'Leitmotif'

A pattern emerges.

alt-5978b44edfb13
Our (Almost) Final Word on 'Penultimate'

The ultimate guide to using penultimate.

alt-5978cb55e8ba5
The Grammatical History of 'Awaken'/'Awoken'/'Awakened'

Or you can just go back to bed.

alt-59775cb5d7779
Words We're Watching: 'Aquafaba'

Don't dump out the bean water just yet...

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
image941935269
A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz
Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz
Citation
Citation

Do you know the person or title these quotes describe?

Play the game