Mafia

[ mah-fee-uh; especially British, maf-ee-uh ]

noun
  1. the Mafia, a hierarchically structured secret organization allegedly engaged in smuggling, racketeering, trafficking in narcotics, and other criminal activities in the United States, Italy, and elsewhere.

  2. Usually mafia . any criminal organization viewed as similar to the Mafia: The movie concerns a low-life gambler who borrows money from the French mafia for a seat at a high-stakes poker game.

  1. Often mafia . any small but powerful or influential group in an organization or field; an inordinately prominent and controlling clique: It was difficult to be the only woman involved in this macho, musical mafia.

  2. (in Sicily)

    • mafia, a popular attitude of hostility to legal restraint and to the law, often manifesting itself in criminal acts.

    • a 19th-century secret society, similar to the Camorra in Naples, associated with this attitude toward law and crime.

Origin of Mafia

1
First recorded in 1870–75; from Italian, earlier maffia “arrogance” (in Sicilian: “bravery, excellence”), apparently a back formation from mafiuso mafioso
  • Rarely Maf·fi·a .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for Mafia

Mafia

Maffia

/ (ˈmæfɪə) /


noun
  1. the Mafia an international secret organization founded in Sicily, probably in opposition to tyranny. It developed into a criminal organization and in the late 19th century was carried to the US by Italian immigrants

  2. any group considered to resemble the Mafia: See also Black Hand, Camorra, Cosa Nostra

Origin of Mafia

1
C19: from Sicilian dialect of Italian, literally hostility to the law, boldness, perhaps from Arabic mahyah bragging

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Mafia

Mafia

[ (mah-fee-uh) ]


A criminal organization that originated in Sicily and was brought to the United States by Italian immigrants in the late nineteenth century. The Mafia is also called the Syndicate, the Mob, and the Cosa Nostra (Our Thing). The Mafia built its power through extortion (forcing tradesmen and shopkeepers to buy Mafia protection against destruction) and by dominating the bootlegging industry (the illegal production and distribution of liquor) during Prohibition. Members of the Mafia often lead outwardly respectable lives and maintain a variety of legitimate businesses as a front, or cover, for their criminal activities, which include extortion, gambling, and narcotics distribution.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.