mummify

[muhm-uh-fahy]

See more synonyms for mummify on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), mum·mi·fied, mum·mi·fy·ing.

to make (a dead body) into a mummy, as by embalming and drying.
to make (something) resemble a mummy; dry or shrivel up: The dead lizard was mummified by the hot desert air.
to preserve (an idea, institution, custom, etc.) that may have outlived its usefulness or relevance: Those mummified customs have no place in society today.

verb (used without object), mum·mi·fied, mum·mi·fy·ing.

to dry or shrivel up.

Origin of mummify

First recorded in 1620–30; mummy¹ + -fy

Related formsmum·mi·fi·ca·tion, nounhalf-mum·mi·fied, adjectiveun·mum·mi·fied, adjectiveun·mum·mi·fy·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

preserve

Examples from the Web for mummified

Contemporary Examples

“These dolls are made of mummified human remains,” the voiceover on the video says.
Russian Historian Anatoly Moskvin Collected Dead Girls at Home
Anna Nemtsova
November 28, 2011
The grisly discovery of her mummified body has unsettled the neighborhood, the neighbor added.
The Mummy Rode Shotgun
Christine Pelisek
October 31, 2010
But other than that, she looked exactly the same—the hot climate and humidity had mummified her.
Who Is the Haircut Killer?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
July 8, 2010
They load a mummified man, with his face contorted into a scream, onto a medical stretcher.
Secrets of the Screaming Man
Rachel Syme
November 22, 2008

Historical Examples

Originally the winding cloth of the Egyptian mummified dead.
Textiles
William H. Dooley
Jules Janin mummified her when she died in 1866, at the age of eighty.
Over the Teacups
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
I have already told you that the dry sand had, as it were, mummified the body.
The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition
Rudyard Kipling
When they are mummified, it is merely owing to the preservative action of the salt in the soil, not to any process of embalming.
History Of Egypt, Chalda, Syria, Babylonia, And Assyria In The Light Of Recent Discovery
L.W. King and H.R. Hall
To judge from my own sensations, they must all have been mummified on the spot.
Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, ambassador, author and conjurer
Jean Henri Robert-Houdin

British Dictionary definitions for mummified

mummify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied

(tr) to preserve the body of (a human or animal) as a mummy
(intr) to dry up; shrivel
(tr) to preserve (an outdated idea, institution, etc) while making lifeless

Derived Formsmummification, noun

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

Word Origin and History for mummified

mummify

v.

1620s, from French momifier, from momie "mummy," from Medieval Latin mumia (see mummy) + -fier "to make into" (see -fy). Related: Mummified; mummifying.

mummify

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Related Words

Examples from the Web for mummified

Contemporary Examples

“These dolls are made of mummified human remains,” the voiceover on the video says.

The grisly discovery of her mummified body has unsettled the neighborhood, the neighbor added.

But other than that, she looked exactly the same—the hot climate and humidity had mummified her.

They load a mummified man, with his face contorted into a scream, onto a medical stretcher.

Historical Examples

Originally the winding cloth of the Egyptian mummified dead.

Jules Janin mummified her when she died in 1866, at the age of eighty.

I have already told you that the dry sand had, as it were, mummified the body.

When they are mummified, it is merely owing to the preservative action of the salt in the soil, not to any process of embalming.

To judge from my own sensations, they must all have been mummified on the spot.

mummify

Word Origin and History for mummified

mummify

v.

Origin of mummify