from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Coptic Church \Coptic Church\
The native church of Egypt or church of Alexandria, which in
general organization and doctrines resembles the Roman
Catholic Church, except that it holds to the Monophysitic
doctrine which was condemned (a. d. 451) by the council of
Chalcedon, and allows its priests to marry. The "pope and
patriarch" has jurisdiction over the Abyssinian Church. Since
the 7th century the Coptic Church has been so isolated from
modifying influences that in many respects it is the most
ancient monument of primitive Christian rites and ceremonies.
But centuries of subjection to Moslem rule have weakened and
degraded it.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]