Coptic
/ˈkɒptɪk
/noun [mass noun]
The language of the Copts, which represents the final stage of ancient Egyptian. It now survives only as the liturgical language of the Coptic Church.The Middle East churches retain distinct liturgies, which are recited in ancient Coptic, Aramaic, Syriac, or Chaldean depending upon the particular sect....
- His precocious talent was made clear when, aged 16, he addressed the Grenoble Academy of Arts and Sciences with a paper in which he suggested that Coptic was the ancient language of Egypt.
- The lingua franca of the empire was Greek although some of the empire's inhabitants spoke Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, and other local languages, but did not have national consciousness with its contemporary meaning.
adjective
Relating to the Copts or their language.Dedicating himself to the study of various oriental languages - including Persian, Ethiopic, Sanskrit, Zend, Pahlevi and Arabic - Champollion also began work on a dictionary and grammar of the Coptic language....
- Jean-François went to high school there, reading a paper on the Coptic language before the Académie de Grenoble when he was only 16.
- A Coptic Christian offered to show them a ford across the river.
