Standard Lemma guide

mameluke

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmamɪl(j)uːk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈmæməˌluk/
  • CMU ARPABET: M AE1 M AH0 L UW2 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A fool.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory, slang

Qualifier: US (Italian-American)

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alcatote, asshat, arsehole, asshole, bayard, berk, birdbrain, blither, bobchin, bonehead, bozo, buffoon, brickhead, Charlie, chucklehead, chowderhead, chump, clart, clown, der-brain, dill pickle, dim bulb, dimwit, dingleberry, dipshit, dipstick, dirtbrain, div, divvo, divvy, dolt, donk, doodle, doofus, dope, dork, dote, dotterel, dullard, dumbass, dumbbell, dumbo, dumb fuck, dummy, dunce, dunderhead, dupe, fathead, fenderhead, fiddle, fuckwit, fuzznut, geck, gig, gink, goober, gooseberry, gowk, gubbins, gump, half-baked, ha'p'orth, Homer Simpson, ignoramus, imbecile, jamoke, jerk, jerkoff, jolterhead, jolthead, juggins, jughead, knucklehead, lamebrain, mameluke (US (Italian-American), slang), maroon, meathead, mong, moron, mug, muggins, mushhead, nimrod, nincompoop, nit, nitwit, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, numskull, numps, numpty, nupson, oaf, pillock, pinhead, plonker, prat, retard, shit for brains, shithead, shitwit, schmo, schmuck, smooth brain, snapperhead, softhead, sohai, sot, stupid, sucker, thickhead, tonto, tool, tosser, tosspot, tubelight, twat, twerp, twit, wally, wantwit, wazzock, yampy

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of Mameluke.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

One who supports someone or something blindly or slavishly; specifically, one who supports the Roman Catholic Church in this manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, derogatory

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ovine, sheep

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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”).

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.

Across languages

Translations

57 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مَمْلُوك (mamlūk) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Arabic: مملوك (mamlūk) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Armenian: մամլուք (mamlukʻ) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Asturian: Mamelucu — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Azerbaijani: məmlük — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Bashkir: мәмлүк (məmlük) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Basque: mameluko — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Breton: Mamlouked — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Bulgarian: Мамелюци (Mameljuci) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Catalan: mameluc — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Chinese Mandarin: 馬穆魯克 /马穆鲁克 (Mǎmùlǔkè) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Czech: mamlúk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Danish: mameluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Dutch: mammeluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Dutch: mamluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Finnish: mamelukki — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • French: mamelouk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Galician: mameluco — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • German: Mamluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Greek: Μαμελούκοι (Mameloúkoi) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Hungarian: mameluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Hungarian: mamlúk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Icelandic: mamelúki — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Icelandic: mamlúki — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Indonesian: Mamalik — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Indonesian: Mamluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Irish: Mamalúcach — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Italian: mamelucco — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Italian: mammalucco — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Italian: mammelucco — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Kazakh: мәмлүк (mämlük) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Korean: 맘루크 (mamnukeu) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Kyrgyz: мамлүк (mamlük) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Latin: mameluc — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Latvian: Mameluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Lithuanian: Mameliuk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Malay: Mamluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Marathi: मामलूक (māmlūk) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mamelukk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mamelukk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Occitan: mameloc — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Polish: mameluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Portuguese: mameluco — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Punjabi: ਮਮਲੂਕ (mamlūk) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Romanian: mameluc — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Russian: мамлю́к (mamljúk) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Sicilian: mammaluccu — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Slovene: mameluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Spanish: mameluco — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Swedish: mamluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Tamil: மம்லூக் (mamlūk) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Tatar: Мәмлүкләр (Mämlüklär) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Thai: มัมลูก — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Turkish: memlûk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Ukrainian: Мамелю́к (Mameljúk) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Ukrainian: Мамлюк (Mamljuk) — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers
  • Vietnamese: Mamluk — member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers