  the term "melkite" (), also written "melchite", refers to various byzantine rite christian churches and their members originating in the middle east. the word comes from the syriac word malkoyo (), and the arabic word malakÄ« (, meaning "royal", and by extension, "imperial").dick (2004), p. 9 when used in an ecclesiastical sense, it refers specifically to the eastern rite catholic patriarchate of antioch. melkites view themselves as the first christian community, dating the melkite church back to the time of the apostles. this first community is said to have been a mixed one made up of individuals who were originally greek, roman, syriac, and jewish. after the islamic conquests of the levant in the 7th century, the melkite community started incorporating arabic language in the liturgical traditions as the middle east became gradually arabized.  the term melkite was originally used as a pejorative term after the acrimonious division that occurred in eastern christianity after the council of chalcedon (451). it was used by non-chalcedonians to refer to those who backed the council and the byzantine emperor (malko and its cognates are semitic words for "king"). "it was only towards the end of the fifth century that it took the name of melkite".history of the melkite church from its origins to the present day, by mgr. joseph nasrallah, melkite exarque in paris. http://phoenicia.org/melkites.html the melkites were generally greek-speaking city-dwellers living in the west of the levant and in egypt, as opposed to the more provincial syriac- and [[coptic language|coptic]
Chalcedonianism Christian_groups_in_the_Middle_East Christianity_in_the_Middle_East Eastern_Catholicism Eastern_Catholicism_in_Egypt Eastern_Catholicism_in_Israel Eastern_Catholicism_in_Lebanon Eastern_Catholicism_in_Syria Eastern_Orthodoxy Ethnic_groups_in_Lebanon Melkite_Greek_Catholic_Church