Dictionary

Mafia en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɑfi.ə/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈmæfi.ə/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian mafia, of uncertain origin. In the first instance, it is not clear whether the lemma in question is a Sicilian exonym or endonym, since written and oral sources on this term are scarce, the etymology remains uncertain and it's worthy of further investigation. It is possibly a regional term of the then recently established Kingdom of Italy; thus the meaning "spirit of hostility to the law" could be just derivative. The hypotheses put forward have been varied, but not very convincing from a reconstructive point of view. See Sicilian mafia for more. See, also, the Wikipedia article for more discussion of the origin of the word. Doublet of mafiya.

Meanings

1. The Mob: any particular mafia, mentioned uniquely within the discussion's established or implicit context, usually and especially the Sicilian-Italian–Italian-American one (especially in American English) but occasionally others (e.g., the Russian one, the Japanese one). ▸ The international criminal organization of Sicilian origin operating in Italy and the United States.
2. A social deduction party game modelling a conflict between an informed minority (the mafia) and an uninformed majority (the innocents). Each player is secretly assigned a role within one of these teams, and the innocents attempt to identify the mafia members before they are all "murdered".
3. The Mob: any particular mafia, mentioned uniquely within the discussion's established or implicit context, usually and especially the Sicilian-Italian–Italian-American one (especially in American English) but occasionally others (e.g., the Russian one, the Japanese one). ▸ Any other specific organized crime syndicate operating internationally in high-level organized crime; often with a modifying adjective, such as a nationality.
   • Somehow he managed to upset the Russian Mafia.

Forms

Deriveds

mafia · mafia state · Kosher Mafia

Relateds

thuggee · triad · mafiya · godfather · 'Ndrangheta · capo · goodfella · Mafioso · mafia · Werewolf (party game) · omertà · yakuza · Mafiosa · Camorra

Synonyms

Mob · Cosa Nostra · Mob

Translations (23)

scn mafia (organized criminal syndicate) · fi mafia (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · el Μαφία (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · yue killer (kiu¹ laa², kiu¹ laa⁴) (party game) · eo Mafio (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · hu maffia (organized criminal syndicate) · it Mafia (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · cs mafie (organized criminal syndicate) · de Mafia (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · cmn 黑手黨 /黑手党 (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · de Mafia (organized criminal syndicate) · scn Mafia (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · hu gyilkosos (organized criminal syndicate) · it mafia (organized criminal syndicate) · fi mafia (organized criminal syndicate) · eo mafio (organized criminal syndicate) · ro mafie (organized criminal syndicate) · cs mafie (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · ar مافيا (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · el μαφία (organized criminal syndicate) · ro Mafia (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin) · ko 마피아 게임 (party game) · yue 黑手黨 /黑手党 (international criminal organisation of Sicilian origin)