Pharisee

English

Etymology

From Latin Pharisaeus, from Ancient Greek Φαρισαῖος (Pharisaîos), a transliteration of Aramaic פְּרִישַׁיָּא (pərîšayyâ’), emphatic plural of פְּרִישׁ (pərîš, “separatist”, literally “separated”), related to Hebrew פרוש (parush), qal passive participle of the verb פָּרַשׁ (pāraš), meaning one who is separated for a life of purity.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛɹɪsiː/
• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛɹɪsi/

Noun

Pharisee (plural Pharisees)

1. (historical) A member of an ancient Jewish political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 B.C.E.–70 C.E.). The movement was ultimately the basis for most contemporary forms of Judaism.
   • 1611, Authorized Version

     Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

2. (figuratively, by extension; derogatory) A person who values the letter of the law over its spirit or intention.
   • circa 1870, Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening,

     The spider fattens himself on flies, and the Pharisee has his reward. Foolish persons are easily entrapped by the loud professions of pretenders, and even the more judicious cannot always escape.

Coordinate terms

• Sadducee
• Essene

Derived terms

• pharisaic
• pharisaical
• pharisaically
• pharisaicalness
• pharisaism, Pharisaism
• Phariseeism

Translations

member of an ancient Jewish political party, social movement, etc

• Arabic: فَرِّيسِيّ (farrīsiyy)
• Armenian: փարիսեցի (hy) (pʻarisecʻi)
• Catalan: fariseu m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法利賽人／法利赛人 (zh) (Fǎlìsàirén), 法利赛人 (zh) (fàlìsàirén)

• Danish: farisæer (da) c
• Dutch: farizeeër (nl) m
• Esperanto: fariseo (eo)
• Faroese: fariseari m
• Finnish: fariseus (fi)
• French: pharisien (fr) m
• German: Pharisäer (de) m, Pharisäerin f
• Gothic: 𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌿𐍃 m (fareisaius)
• Greek: Φαρισαίος (el) m (Farisaíos)

  Ancient: Φαρισαῖος m (Pharisaîos)

• Greenlandic: farisiiari
• Haitian Creole: farizyen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: פָּרוּשׁ (he) (parúsh)
• Hungarian: farizeus (hu)
• Irish: Fairisíneach m
• Italian: fariseo (it) m
• Japanese: パリサイ人 (parisai-bito), ファリサイ派 (farisai-ha)
• Latin: Pharī̆saeus m
• Luhya: omfarisayo
• Malay: Farisi
• Plautdietsch: Farisäa m
• Portuguese: fariseu (pt) m
• Romanian: fariseu (ro) m
• Russian: фарисе́й (ru) m (fariséj)
• Spanish: fariseo (es) m
• Swahili: farisayo (sw)
• Swedish: farisé (sv) c
• Volapük: (♂♀) farisetan, (♂) hifarisetan, (♀) jifarisetan

person who values form over content

• Armenian: փարիսեցի (hy) (pʻarisecʻi)
• Finnish: fariseus (fi), farisealainen
• Greek: Φαρισαίος (el) m (Farisaíos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: fariseu (pt)
• Romanian: fariseu (ro) m
• Russian: фарисе́й (ru) m (fariséj)

References

• Klein, Ernest (1987) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN

Anagrams

• Hesperia