English
Pharisee
Pharisee comes from Latin Pharisaeus ‘a Pharisee’, and goes back to Aramaic פְּרִישַׁיָּא.
- Aramaicc. 1000 BCE–700 CEפְּרִישַׁיָּאpərîšayyâ’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEΦαρισαῖοςPharisaîos‘Pharisee, a member of an ancient religious sect of Judaism’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEPharisaeus‘a Pharisee’
- Englishearliest quotation 1611Pharisee
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Aramaicc. 1000 BCE–700 CEפְּרִישַׁיָּאpərîšayyâ’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEΦαρισαῖοςPharisaîos‘Pharisee, a member of an ancient religious sect of Judaism’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEPharisaeus‘a Pharisee’
- Englishearliest quotation 1611Pharisee
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Then understood they how that he bade them not…”
The story
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.
Every English word from Aramaic פְּרִישַׁיָּא
Today it means
noun 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.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Aramaic פְּרִישַׁיָּא / Pharisee