/mar"euh nuyt'/ , n.
a member of a body of Uniates living chiefly in Lebanon, who maintain a Syriac liturgy and a married clergy, and who are governed by the patriarch of Antioch. Also called Maronite Christian .
[ 1505-15; Maronita, named after St. Maron, 4th-century monk, founder of the sect; see -ITE 1 ]