mameluke
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From French mamelouk, ultimately from Arabic مملوك (mamluk, “slave”)from ملك (málaka, “to possess, to acquire”)
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
mameluke (plural mamelukes)
- A member of a military regime created and run originally by freed white slaves, which formed a ruling caste in Egypt from 1250 until 1812 and in Syria until 1516.
- 1603, John Florio, trans. Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I.48:
- The Mammalukes boast, that they have the nimblest and readiest horses of any men at armes in the world.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 574:
- He first smashed the native Mameluke army at the battle of the Pyramids on 21 July, and secured lower Egypt before leading an expedition in Syria against Turkish forces.
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 278:
- The Mamluks, who seized power in Egypt in 1250, were a caste of men captured for military service, so they drew their identity from their defence of Islam against its enemies.
- 1603, John Florio, trans. Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I.48:
- (obsolete) A slave (especially white) in a Muslim country.
- 1888, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 1:
- Having accepted this advice the King forthwith bade prepare handsome gifts, such as horses with saddles of gem encrusted gold; Mamelukes, or white slaves; beautiful handmaids, high breasted virgins, and splendid stuffs and costly.
- 1888, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 1:
French [edit]
Adjective [edit]
mameluke
- feminine form of mameluk
