Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - maccabean

 adjective see Maccabees I MACCABEES  I. noun plural  Etymology: Greek Makkabaioi, from plural of Makkabaios, surname of Judas Maccabaeus 2d century B.C. Jewish patriot  Date: 1587  1. a priestly family leading a Jewish revolt begun in 168 B.C. against Hellenism and Syrian rule and reigning over Palestine from 142 B.C. to 63 B.C.  2. singular in construction either of two narrative and historical books included in the Roman Catholic canon of the Old Testament and in the Protestant Apocrypha — see bible table  • Maccabean adjective  II. biographical name Judas or Judah died 161 B.C. surname Maccabaeus Jewish patriot