What is "karaite"

Karaite \Ka"ra*ite\, n. [Heb. q[=a]r[=a] to read.] (Eccl. Hist.) A sect of Jews who adhere closely to the letter of the Scriptures, rejecting the oral law, and allowing the Talmud no binding authority; -- opposed to the Rabbinists.

Karaite or Qaraite may refer to:

• Karaite Judaism, a Jewish religious movement that rejects the Talmud.
• Crimean Karaites, an ethnic group derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Karaism in Eastern Europe.

• Subbotnik Karaites, one of the three sects of Subbotniks.
• Karaite language, Turkic language of Crimean Karaites. Its Crimean dialect is an ethnolect of the Crimean Tatar language.