Meanings
plural Melkites · alternative Melchite
- historicalIn 5th-century Syria and Egypt, a sobriquet applied to Chalcedonians by their opponents, denoting the Chalcedonians' fidelity to the Byzantine emperor.
[...] increasingly a majority in the Egyptian Church as well as other strongholds of Miaphysitism denounced Chalcedonian Christians as ‘Dyophysites’ and sneered at them as ‘the emperor's people’ – Melchites.
2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, page 233 - A member of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch or the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem; ellipsis of Orthodox Melkite.
- A member of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church; ellipsis of Catholic Melkite.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan eastern Christian in Egypt or Syria who adheres to the Orthodox faith as defined by the council of Chalcedon in 451 and as accepted by the Byzantine emperor
nounan Orthodox Christian or Uniate Christian belonging to the patriarchate of Alexandria or Antioch or Jerusalem
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Classical Syriacܡܠܟܝܐ“royal; royalist”
- Medieval GreekΜελχίτης
- LatinMelchita
- EnglishMelkite
From Latin Melchita, from Medieval Greek Μελχίτης (Melkhítēs), from Classical Syriac ܡܠܟܝܐ (malkāyāʾ, “royal; royalist”) + Medieval Greek -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs). See these for more.
More words from Latin, Medieval Greek, Classical Syriac
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch melkiet
- melkiet(all senses)
Finnish melkiitti
- melkiitti(all senses)
French melchite, melkite
- melchite(all senses)
- melkite(all senses)
German Melkite, Melkitin
- Melkite(all senses)
- Melkitin(all senses)
Italian melchita
- melchita(all senses)
Polish melchita, melkita
- melchita(all senses)
- melkita(all senses)
Portuguese melquita
- melquita(all senses)
Russian мелькит
- мелькит (melʹkit)(all senses)
Cite this entry
Melkite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Melkite
“Melkite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Melkite. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Melkite,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Melkite.
Source: Melkite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.