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Mameluke

//ˈmamɪl(j)uːk// noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A fool. derogatory, slang

    "Kabikov: “Hey, I’m setting a mood.” Mad Sal: “I’ll mood you, you mameluke."

  2. 2
    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. historical

    "[…] 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, […]"

  3. 3
    Alternative letter-case form of Mameluke. alt-of, rare
  4. 4
    One who supports someone or something blindly or slavishly; specifically, one who supports the Roman Catholic Church in this manner. broadly, derogatory

    "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."

  5. 5
    A slave (especially one who is a white European) in a Middle Eastern Muslim country. broadly, obsolete

    "But this madde Amalecke, / Lyke to a Mamelek, / He regardeth lordes / No more than potshordes; […]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

Sense 1 (“fool”) is probably derived from Mameluke (“member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers; one who supports someone or something blindly or slavishly”).

Etymology 2

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.

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