Coptic

[ kop-tik ]

noun
  1. an Afroasiatic language of Egypt descended from ancient Egyptian, largely extinct as a spoken language since the 16th century but surviving as the liturgical language of the Coptic Church.

adjective
  1. of or relating to Coptic or the Copts.

Origin of Coptic

1
First recorded in 1670–80; Copt + -ic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for Coptic

Coptic

/ (ˈkɒptɪk) /


noun
  1. an Afro-Asiatic language, written in the Greek alphabet but descended from ancient Egyptian. It was extinct as a spoken language by about 1600 ad but survives in the Coptic Church

adjective
  1. of or relating to this language

  2. of or relating to the Copts

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012