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Mel·kite or Mel·chite

(mĕlkīt)

1. A member of the Christian churches in Egypt and Syria that accepted the Council of Chalcedon.

2. A member of an Eastern Catholic church that uses the Byzantine rite and has patriarchates in Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

[New Latin Melchītae, Melkites, from Medieval Greek Melkhītai, from Aramaic malkāye, pl. of malkāy, royal, royalist, from malkā, king; see mlk in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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