Ca-bī'rī, n. pl.

[Gr. Κάβειροι, from Heb. & Ar. kabir, great.] (Myth.) Certain deities greatly venerated by the ancient pagans in Greece and Phenicia. The accounts of these deities are confused and contradictory. Some authors limit their number to four; some to three; others to two; while Sanchoniathon makes them to be eight. They were worshiped with particular honors in the Isle of Samothrace; and their worship and mysteries are said to have been introduced into Greece by the Pelasgians. They were supposed to have a particular influence over the sea and maritime affairs. Bryant. Faber.