| 释义 |
Melchite Eccl.|ˈmɛlkaɪt|
Also Malkite, Melkite.
[ad. L. Melchīta, repr. Syr. mal'kåyē pl., ‘royalists’ (i.e. adherents of the party of the Roman emperor), f. malkå king; the Arabic form is malakīy.]
Originally, the designation applied by the Syrian Monophysites and Nestorians, and after their example by the Muslims, to those Eastern Christians who adhered to the orthodox faith as defined by the councils of Ephesus (a.d. 431) and Chalcedon (a.d. 451). In later use, applied to those orthodox Eastern Christians who use an Arabic version of the Greek ritual, and esp. to those of them who have been united to the communion of the Roman church, while retaining their separate organization.
1619Purchas Microcosmus lxviii. 686 These Surians, or Melchites. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. ii. (1636) 53 The Christians under the Patriarch of Antioch are called Syrians..; And Melchites of the Syrian word א{hebkaph}{heblamed}{hebmem} which signifieth a King. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. xlvii. (1828) VI. 62 Their numbers..bestowed an imperfect claim to the appellation of Catholics: but in the East, they were marked with the less honourable name of Melchites, or Royalists. 1883I. Taylor Alphabet I. 294 The alphabet used by the Melchites of Palestine. 1885Catholic Dict. (1897) 619/1 In fact, both from a dogmatic and liturgical point of view, the Melchites are simply Greeks living in Egypt and Syria. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 237/2 The emperor appointed a new bishop of Alexandria, whose adherents the Copts styled Melkites or Imperialists. 1927B. J. Kidd Churches Eastern Christendom xviii. 460 Originally a ‘Melkite’ meant a Christian who accepted the Emperor's religion. 1933Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Dec. 890/2 They [sc. Christians] actually tended to welcome the Moslem conquest as releasing them from the persecution of the Melkite Church. 1947G. Every Byzantine Patriarchate xii. 158 In Palestine..most Syrian Christians were Melkites. 1961N. Zernov Eastern Christendom ii. 68 The official hierarchy..was nicknamed Melkites (King's men).
b. attrib. (quasi-adj.) and ellipt.
1883I. Taylor Alphabet I. 295 The uncial Melchite [alphabet] goes generally by the name of Syro-Palestinian. Ibid., The later cursive Melchite is wholly unlike the Syro-Palestinian. 1901Hunter-Blair in Daily Chron. 12 Nov. 5/7 The Patriarch of the..influential Melchite Church. 1909A. S. Lewis Codex Climaci Rescriptus p. xiii, As this version was adopted by the Malkite Church, it cannot be older than the Council of Chalcedon (a.d. 451). |