SAMARITAN

n. & adj. --n. 1 (in full good Samaritan) a charitable or helpful person (with ref. to Luke 10:33 etc.). 2 a member of an organization which counsels people in distress by telephone or face to face. 3 a native of Samaria in West Jordan . 4 the language of this people. 5 an adherent of the Samaritan religious system, accepting only the Samaritan Pentateuch. --adj. of Samaria or the Samaritans. øSamaritan Pentateuch a recension used by Samaritans of which the MSS are in archaic characters. øøSamaritanism n. [LL Samaritanus f. Gk Samareites f. Samareia Samaria]