mameluke

Sense 1 (“fool”) is probably derived from Mameluke (“member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers; one who supports someone or something blindly or slavishly”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmamɪl(j)uːk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmæməˌluk/
• Hyphenation: mam‧e‧luke

mameluke (plural mamelukes)

2. (US (Italian-American), derogatory, slang) A fool.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool

   • 2010 June 3, James Ellroy, American Tabloid‎^[1]:

     Kabikov: “Hey, I’m setting a mood.” Mad Sal: “I’ll mood you, you mameluke.

   • 2014 January 28, Anthony Bruno, Bad Guys‎^[2]:

     My goddamn son-in-law, my right-hand man, acting like a fucking mameluke in front of all those people.” “Maybe he acted that way on purpose,” Tozzi said, “To make you think he was a mameluke.” “He was a mameluke!”

   • 2021 January 14, Harry Brooks, Nothing Beats Luck‎^[3]:

     “I’m saying there are some asshole cops who take their ‘collar’ out to the desert and bury him. […] There is nothing I would enjoy more than to put that mameluke Mikey Esposito in the ground . . . but that’s not going to happen.”

3. (rare) Alternative letter-case form of Mameluke.

mameluke

1. feminine singular of mameluk