Mām'a-lūke or Mām'e-lūke, n.

n. [Fr. mamelouch, Sp. mameluco, It. mammalucco, from Ar. mam-lūk, a purchased slave or captive properly possessed or in one's power, p. p. of malaka, to possess.] One of the former mounted soldiery of Egypt, formed of Circassian slaves of the sultan; later, the actual or virtual masters of the country until their destruction by Mohammed Ali in 1811.