mummy

¹ American  

[muhm-ee] / ˈmʌm i /

noun

• mummies
  plural

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.

• mummies
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• unmummied
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mummies
  plural

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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

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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

See Examples For:

mummy mummies mummied

She is one of the 2,000-year-old "Faces of Fayum", startlingly realistic funerary -- or mummy -- portraits painted after Egypt became part of the Roman empire.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

Following indirect contact with her mother the court heard that the child experiences "significant difficulties" and can wake at night and say "she is scared of the dark and mummy".

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Phenol was used after Ötzi's recovery to remove fungal growth from the surface of the mummy.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

At some point, it was torn into strips and used to wrap a mummy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

I am an Egyptian mummy in one picture.

From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar

"Egypt and Rome, the Faces of Fayum", opening Wednesday at Rome's Ara Pacis museum, also includes mummies, masks, shrouds, jewellery, marble busts and statuary.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

Two museums in Glasgow have removed the remains of Egyptian mummies from display over ethical concerns.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

"It was really nice to have her in the middle to celebrate that hundred – two mummies," Wyatt-Hodge said.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

Coffins holding centuries-old mummies at the museum were also destroyed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

The guide told them how mummies were prepared and how Egypt’s dry climate helped to preserve them.

From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg

A knock on the door, and there stands Heseltine resigning from Mrs. Thatcher's Cabinet, Marcos on the stump, Gaddafi playing cowboy on his tractor, mummied to the nose.

From Time Magazine Archive

Bronwyn hovered anxiously around an old woman who was teetering half-conscious in a chair, mummied up in a blanket.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

They picked their way among the mummied figures.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

And after the place of dead matter and mummied husks in gloom, where we had been wandering, this burst of leaves in full light was a return to life.

From The Sea and the Jungle by H. M. (Henry Major) Tomlinson

To say that it is "thirsty" is to mock with vain imagery that dead and mummied land on the borders of the Black Lava.

From The Cup of Trembling and Other Stories by Mary Hallock Foote

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Related Words

• dwindle
• shrink
• wilt
• wither

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