Copte
/kɒpt/noun
An obsolete English spelling of Copt, meaning a member of Egypt’s indigenous Christian community.
Did you know?“Copte” ultimately comes through Arabic from Greek Aigyptios, “Egyptian,” while “Copt” later became especially associated with Egypt’s Christian community.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Egyptian
Egyptian
ḥwt-kꜣ-Ptḥ
““Estate or temple of the ka of Ptah,” a name associated with Memphis”
Classical Greek
Greek
Aigyptos
“Egypt; the Greek name for the country, probably connected with the Egyptian place-name”
Late Antique Greek
Greek
Aigyptios
“Egyptian”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
qibṭ
“Copt; an Egyptian, especially an Egyptian Christian”
16th–17th Century
English
copte
“An obsolete English spelling of Copt”
Modern English
English
Copt
“A member of the indigenous Christian community of Egypt”