n. 1. A member of a Gnostic sect historically concentrated in Iraq and Iran but now largely dispersed due to war and persecution. 2. Mandaic. [Mandaic mandaya, having knowledge, from manda, knowledge, from earlier Aramaic manda', madda', infinitive of yəda', to know; see ydʿ in the Appendix of Semitic roots.] Man·daean adj. |
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