mummy

¹ American  

[muhm-ee] / ˈmʌm i /

noun

plural

mummies

1. the dead body of a human being or animal, treated with natural or chemical desiccants and preservatives as part of preparation for burial, as notably practiced in ancient Egyptian and South American cultures.

   The Egyptian mummies on display, characteristically wrapped in multiple layers of linen, are more than 3,500 years old.

2. a dead body dried and preserved by nature.

3. a withered or shrunken living being.

   When this mummy of a guy walked in, we were not expecting him to say that he’s our new fitness coach!

4. a dry, shriveled fruit, tuber, or other plant organ, resulting from any of several fungal diseases.

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verb (used with object)

mummied, mummying

1. Archaic. to make into or cause to resemble a mummy; mummify.

mummy ² American  

[muhm-ee] / ˈmʌm i /

noun

Chiefly British Informal.

plural

mummies

1. mommy.

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mummy ¹ British  

/ ˈmʌmɪ /

noun

1. an embalmed or preserved body, esp as prepared for burial in ancient Egypt

2. obsolete the substance of such a body used medicinally

3. a mass of pulp

4. a dark brown pigment

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mummy ² British  

/ ˈmʌmɪ /

noun

1. a child's word for mother 1

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Other Word Forms

• unmummied
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of mummy¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English mummie, from Medieval Latin mummia, from Arabic mūmiyah “mummy,” literally, “bitumen,” from Persian mūm “wax”

Origin of mummy²

First recorded in 1815–25; mum ⁴ + -y ²

Explanation

A mummy is either a preserved dead body or a British person’s mom, ideally not at the same time. In ancient Egypt, preserving a body as a mummy was part of a religious belief in an afterlife. Today, some bodies are embalmed and preserved after death, but rarely with the same ceremony that preparing a mummy involved. Most mummies were wrapped in cloth and treated with chemicals, after having their internal organs removed. Many countries have ancient mummy traditions, including China, Libya, Iran, and Italy, as well as the country most famous for its mummies, Egypt. The word comes from the Arabic mumiyah.

Example Sentences

In fourth place with $5.6 million was "Lee Cronin's The Mummy," an original horror flick from Warner Bros about a young girl possessed by a demon in an ancient mummification ritual.

From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026

Competitors for the title of Miss Mummy Portrait include “Aline,” at the Neues Museum in Berlin; and a painting dubbed “L’Européenne” at the Louvre.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Mummy and Daddy Pig will introduce the idea of the pending piglet in the Season 10 episode airing March 31.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2025

Stephanie is behind the blog Welsh Mummy Steph and she's felt the pressure of social trends in the past.

From BBC • Dec. 21, 2024

Hopefully it was just Mummy coming in to put my clothes away and not to wake me to see some horrible auntie who stopped by because she clearly has no sense of time or propriety.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

Related Words

• dwindle
• shrink
• wilt
• wither