mafia

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmæfi.ə/ (UK); /ˈmɑfi.ə/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian Mafia,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Sicilian mafia “boldness, bravado”^[2][3][6] of obscure origin.^[6] Arabic is often cited as the source, but Etymonline notes there is no agreement on which word,^[4] and Barnhart suggests Arabic mahyas “aggressive boasting”.^[3] Etymonline traces the criminal sense to mafioso (1870) and the 1863 play I Mafiusi della Vicaria,^[4] and Random House warns that many fictitious stories about the word's age and source circulate.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Sicily, the spirit of hostility to the law and its officers, and the secret society acting in that spirit (1875).^[7][3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The word was applied to criminal organizations in the U.S. and elsewhere,^[2][5][6] and to any group controlling a particular illegal trade.^[5] By extension it also means a tight-knit or influential group of associates in some field, often written with a small letter.^[2][5][6]

Timeline

• 1870 – mafioso.^[4]
• 1875 – the Sicilian secret society.^[3][4][5][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A secret criminal society of Sicily, active since the 19th century.
2. A similar criminal organization in the U.S. and elsewhere, engaged in racketeering and other crimes.
3. A small, powerful or close-knit group of associates in a particular field; a clique.

Related words

• mafioso
• Camorra

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press