Seleucid

American  

[si-loo-sid] / sɪˈlu sɪd /

noun

Seleucidae plural

1. a member of a Macedonian dynasty, 312–64 b.c., that ruled an empire that included much of Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, Bactria, and Babylonia.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Seleucids or their dynasty.

Seleucid British  

/ sɪˈluːsɪdən, sɪˈluːsɪd /

noun

1. a member of a royal dynasty (312–64 _bc ) that at the zenith of its power ruled over an area extending from Thrace to India

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or supporting the Seleucids or their dynasty

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Seleucidan
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Seleucidae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Seleucid

1850–55; < New Latin Seleucidēs < Greek Seleukídēs “offspring of Seleucus ( def. ) ”; see -id ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Seleucid Seleucidae

The festival celebrates the victory of the Jewish Maccabees against the Greek-led Seleucid Empire, which sought to eradicate Judaism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 2025

Hanukkah itself celebrates an ancient Jewish victory over the Seleucid Empire, which sought to impose Hellenistic culture and forced assimilation in Judea.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2024

In 175 B.C. the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes came into power and tried to force Judeans to assimilate.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 7, 2023

Of note is the fact that the Seleucid cities represented the first major experiment in what we now call the welfare state.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

The crisis this time was occasioned by the death of the Seleucid king Antiochus II, in Asia Minor.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

The external splendour of the Hasmonaean kingdom did not at once die away,—the downfall of the Seleucidae, which was its negative condition, being also a slow affair.

From Prolegomena by Wellhausen, Julius

With all their might, the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucidae in Syria hellenized the countries subject to their rule.

From Jewish History : an essay in the philosophy of history by Dubnow, S. M. (Simon Markovich)

After the conquests of Alexander the Great Sogdiana formed part of the empire of the Seleucidae, and shared the fortunes of the rather better-known Bactria.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 2 "Bohemia" to "Borgia, Francis" by Various

Judas is there made to write to Egypt in the year of the Seleucidae 188, though he died thirty-six years before, i.e.,

From The Canon of the Bible by Davidson, Samuel

By turns she owned the sway of the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae, until finally, in 203, she was declared a Syro-Macedonian province.

From Jewish History : an essay in the philosophy of history by Dubnow, S. M. (Simon Markovich)