Karaism is the Europeanized name given to a Jewish movement whose members identified themselves by the Hebrew name qaraʾim, a term widely understood to mean “those who are dedicated or devoted to the study of the Law [Torah],” “those who observe the Torah strictly according to the plain meaning of its text,” or “those who consider the text of the Torah to be the sole source of legislation.” Put otherwise, the Karaites are those Jews who reject the authority of the rabbinic tradition (or Oral Law, Torah she-be-ʿal peh) as the definitive interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.