(Turkish: "apostate, convert")
Jewish sect, originally adherents of the false messiah Shabtai Zvi. When Zvi converted to Islam in 1666, the dönme followed their leader, but didn't renounce Judaism. The apostasy of their messiah is explained by the dönme through kabbalistic esoteric ideas.
The sect is known to still exist in the Balkan and Turkey, but its extent is unknown.