mameluke

Where does the word "mameluke" come from? It comes from Arabic mamluk, passing through French before entering English (1254).

Mameluke’s story begins in Arabic: mamluk meant “purchased slave-soldier.” Literally "one possessed"; a slave-soldier, later a ruling military caste. By 1200s, the word had taken hold in French as mameluk. Carried the term into European chronicles of the Crusades. It reached English by 1254 as mameluke. Named the dynasty of former slave-soldiers who ruled Egypt. Today, mameluke means a member of the military caste that ruled Egypt from the 13th to 16th centuries, originally composed of slave-soldiers.

1. Stage 1 · Arabic · medieval mamluk "purchased slave-soldier", literally "one possessed"; a slave-soldier, later a ruling military caste.
2. Stage 2 · French · 1200s mameluk "Egyptian slave-soldier", carried the term into European chronicles of the Crusades.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1254 mameluke "member of Egypt's slave-soldier dynasty", named the dynasty of former slave-soldiers who ruled Egypt.