Coptic

[ kop-tik ]

/ ˈkɒp tɪk /

noun

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

of or relating to Coptic or the Copts.

Origin of Coptic

First recorded in 1670–80; Copt + -ic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for coptic

The fragment is written in Coptic, not Greek, and is not actually from the Bible, as the title would indicate.
Dismembering History: The Shady Online Trade in Ancient Texts|Candida Moss|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He tentatively suggested that the text is a pastiche compiled by a modern forger with an elementary grasp of Coptic.
The ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ is Still as Big a Mystery as Ever|Candida Moss|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Pharaonic scenes, Muslim symbols, poetry, and Coptic icons—great vivid murals bloomed onto the walls.
Ahdaf Soueif’s Cairo: Remembering A City Wracked By The Arab Spring|Ahdaf Soueif|January 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I met him at the Coptic Hospital when I went to visit the Maspero injured.
Ahdaf Soueif’s Cairo: Remembering A City Wracked By The Arab Spring|Ahdaf Soueif|January 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

And Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri accused Coptic Pope Tawadros II of wanting to establish a Coptic state in Egypt.
The Holy Land’s Endangered Christians|Jamie Dettmer|January 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the Coptic and ancient Egyptian the word for constellation has the same meaning.
Astronomical Myths|John F. Blake
On other parts of the walls are some inscriptions, supposed by M. Belzoni to be in Coptic.
Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. I of II)|Charles Bucke
Finally, in a letter Mr. Griffith tells me the identification of didi with the Coptic ϫιϫι, "apple (?)"
The Evolution of the Dragon|G. Elliot Smith
The first of these divisions includes both the Moslem and Coptic inhabitants.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1|Various
Farras, on west bank, few remains; grottoes with Coptic inscriptions, some distance from the river.
The Overland Guide-book|James Barber

British Dictionary definitions for coptic

Coptic

/ (ˈkɒptɪk) /

noun

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

of or relating to this language

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