# Mameluke
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from a European language such as Late Latin mameluc or Middle French mamelu, mameluch (modern French mameluk, mamelouk), borrowed from Arabic مَمْلُوك (mamlūk, “(adjective) owned, possessed; (noun) slave (especially a white slave)”), the passive participle of مَلَكَ (malaka, “to own, possess; to be the master”), from م ل ك (m l k, root relating to authority and possession). Doublet of mameluco.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈmamɪl(j)uːk/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈmæməˌluk/
* Hyphenation: Mam‧e‧luke

### Noun

Mameluke (plural Mamelukes)
* (historical) A member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers, mainly from the Eurasian steppe or the Caucasus; in particular, those who formed a ruling caste in Egypt from 1250 until 1812 and in Syria from 1260 until 1516.
** 1528, Thomas More, “A Dialogue Concernynge Heresyes & Matters of Religion […]. Chapter 15. That Princes be Boundẽ [Bounden] to Punish Heretykes, and that Fayre Handelyng Helpeth Litle with Many of Them.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, book IV, page 279, column 2:[…] Mammolukes and Geniſaries about yͤ Turk and Sowdã [Sowdan, i.e., Sudan], haue vſed to chriſten their children of purpoſe, that by the renayĩg of their fayth, after, they might be made Mammolukes or Geniſaries, as theyr fathers were, and may be had the more in eſtimacion & fauour about the greate Turke, […]
** 1603, Michel de Montaigne, “Of Steedes, Called in French Destriers”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 156:The Mammalukes boaſt, that they have the nimbleſt and readieſt horſes of any men at armes in the vvorld.
** 1615, George Sandys, “The First Booke”, in The Relation of a Iourney Begun An: Dom: 1610. […], London: […] [Richard Field] for W. Barrett, →OCLC, page 44:The mightie Empire of Saladine againe rent in peeces, yet ſtill poſſeſſed in parts by the Selzuccian family: vntill driuen out of Syria by the Tartars, and diſpoſſeſt of Ægypt by the Mamalacks.
** 1869, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter LVIII, in The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company. […], →OCLC, page 631:I shall not tell how that one solitary Mameluke jumped his horse a hundred feet down from the battlements of the citadel and escaped, because I do not think much of that—I could have done it myself; […]
** 1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “Book I: The Discovery of Feisal. Chapter XVI.”, in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, published 1937, →OCLC, page 107:Conceivably both fort and causeway had been built by an Egyptian Mameluke for the passage of his pilgrim-caravan from Yenbo.
** 2002, Colin Jones, “Conclusion: The Brumaire Leviathan and la Grande Nation”, in The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon 1715–99, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 574:He [Napoleon] first smashed the native Mameluke army at the battle of the Pyramids on 21 July [1798], and secured lower Egypt before leading an expedition in Syria against Turkish forces.
** 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, “Islam: The Great Realignment (622–1500)”, in A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, London: Allen Lane, →ISBN, page 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.
* (by extension)
** (derogatory) One who supports someone or something blindly or slavishly; specifically, one who supports the Roman Catholic Church in this manner.
    Synonyms: ovine, sheep
*** 1531 September, William Tyndale, “The Exposition of the First Epistle of Saint John, […]. Chapter. II.”, in Henry Walter, editor, Expositions and Notes on Sundry Portions of the Holy Scriptures, together with The Practice of Prelates. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] The University Press, published 1849, →OCLC, page 177:For love of the world many are this day fallen away; and many which stood on the truth's side, and defended it awhile, for love of the world have gotten them unto the contrary part, and are become the antichrist of Rome's mamelukes, and are waxen the most wicked enemies unto the truth, and most cruel against it.The spelling has been modernized.
*** 1833 April 18, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Church of Rome—Celibacy of the Clergy”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 161:But, so long as the Bishop of Rome remains Pope, and has an army of Mamelukes all over the world, we shall do very little by fulminating against mere doctrinal errors.
** (obsolete) A slave (especially one who is a white European) in a Middle Eastern Muslim country.
*** a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Here after Foloweth a Lytell Boke, whiche hath to Name Why Come Ye Nat to Courte? […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume II, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 41, lines 475–476:But this madde Amalecke, / Lyke to a Mamelek, / He regardeth lordes / No more than potshordes; […]
*** 1600, Feliciano Cieça de Corvalho, “A Speciall Letter Written from Feliciano Cieça de Carvalsho the Gouernour of Paraina in the Most Northerne Part of Brasil, 1597. to Philip the Second King of Spaine, Answering His Desire Touching the Conquest of Rio Grande, with the Relation of the Besieging of the Castle of Cabodelo by the Frenchmen, and of the Discouerie of a Rich Siluer Mine and Diuerse Other Important Matters”, in Richard Hakluyt, transl., The Third and Last Volume of the Voyages, Nauigations, Traffiques, and Discoueries of the English Nation, […], 2nd edition, London: […] George Bishop, Ralfe Newberie, and Robert Barker, →OCLC, page 718:The King our maſter hath ſent a decree and certaine ſtatutes touching the good gouernment and orders to be executed and kept in thoſe Indian townes; and that vpon ſight hereof I ſhall preſently baniſh all the Mamalukes and white men which dwell in any of thoſe Indian townes with all ſpeede, […]
*** 1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume I, [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC, page 3: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.

#### Usage notes

Since the 20th century, the form Mamluk has been preferred in scholarly writing as it more accurately transliterates the Arabic word.

#### Alternative forms

* Mamaluke, mamaluke, mameluk, mameluke, Mamluk, mamluk, mamluke, mammaluke
* memlook

#### Derived terms

* mameluke (“fool”) (US (Italian-American), derogatory, slang)
* Mamelukedom
* Mamelukery

#### Related terms

* mameluco

#### See also

* janissary

### Notes

* ↑ From the collection of the Musée de l’Armée (Army Museum) in Paris, France.

### References

* 1 2 “Mameluke, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2023.
* ↑ “Mameluke, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

### Further reading

* Mamluk on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Mamluk (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia