mameluke

mameluke · noun¹

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”).

Mameluke · noun²

1. Arabic · derived fromمَمْلُوك“(adjective) owned, possessed; (noun) slave (especially a white slave)”
2. Middle French · borrowed frommamelu
3. Late Latin · borrowed frommameluc
4. English todayMameluke

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.

Words from the same roots