melkite
/ˈmɛlkaɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.40 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
In 5th-century Syria and Egypt, a sobriquet applied to Chalcedonians by their opponents, denoting the Chalcedonians' fidelity to the Byzantine emperor.
noun
A member of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch or the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem; ellipsis of Orthodox Melkite.
noun
A member of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church; ellipsis of Catholic Melkite.
Example Sentences
- "[...] increasingly a majority in the Egyptian Church as well as other strongholds of Miaphysitism denounced Chalcedonian Christians as ‘Dyophysites’ and sneered at them as ‘the emperor's people’ – Melchites."
Etymology
From Latin Melchita, from Byzantine Greek Μελχίτης (Melkhítēs), from Classical Syriac ܡܠܟܝܐ (malkāyāʾ, “royal; royalist”) + Byzantine Greek -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs). See these for more.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmɛlkaɪt/
- British English: /ˈmɛlkʌɪt/