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

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

See Examples For:

mummy mummies mummied

During excavations conducted between November and December 2025, a team led by Núria Castellano uncovered a Roman-era mummy in Tomb 65 of Sector 22.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

Hull said the last words which passed between them were "see you after work mummy", to which she replied: "See you after work, love you."

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

When the mummy was found in 1991, it was initially treated as a normal cadaver.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

Somebody — perhaps it was Lee Cronin himself, probably not — wanted us to know that his latest project, “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” was no mere mummy movie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026

Somehow, seeing her like this was even spookier than seeing her as a mummy.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

Excavations uncovered a funerary complex consisting of three limestone burial chambers containing Roman-era mummies and decorated wooden sarcophagi.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 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

And while San Francisco may have the famous California Academy of Sciences, San Jose boasts the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, with mummies and a robot version of Thoth, ancient “Keeper of the Mysteries.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

Sereno emphasizes that these dinosaur mummies are very different from human-created mummies in Egyptian tombs; none of the original organic material is still present.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2025

Standing in each was a withered old woman, so dried up and brittle they reminded Piper of mummies—except mummies didn’t normally move.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

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

The Dead Sea waves And Egypt caves Of mummied silence laugh When he mounts to quench the Siroc's stench And to wrench From his clutch the tyrant's staff.

From Song-Surf by Rice, Cale Young

Skeleton leaves, twigs, dead flies, mummied earwigs began to drop down in all directions.

From Rich Relatives by MacKenzie, Compton

Related Words

• dwindle
• shrink
• wilt
• wither