Adjacent Words

Mummy definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MUM'MY, n.
1. A dead human body embalmed and dried after the Egyptian manner; a name perhaps given to it from the substance used in preserving it. There are two kinds of mummies. The first are bodies dried by the heat of the sun. Such are found in the sands of Libya. The other kind is taken from the catacombs in Egypt.
2. The name of two substances prepared for medicinal use, which according to Hill are, the one, the dried flesh of human bodies embalmed with myrrh and spice; the other, a liquor running from such mummies when newly prepared, or when affected by great heat and damps. This is preserved in vials, and if suffered to dry, becomes solid. But it is alleged that the first sort consists of pieces of the flesh of executed criminals, or other flesh filled with bitumen and other ingredients. But see the opinion of Chardin, supra.
3. There are found in Poland natural mummies lying in caverns, supposed to be the remains of persons who in time of war took refuge in caves, but being discovered were suffocated by their enemies. These bodies are dried, with the flesh and skin shrunk almost close to the bones, and are of a blackish color.
4. Among gardeners, a sort of wax used in grafting and planting trees.
To beat to a mummy, to beat soundly, or to a senseless mass.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: informal terms for a mother [syn: ma, mama, mamma, mom, momma, mommy, mammy, mum, mummy]
2: a body embalmed and dried and wrapped for burial (as in ancient Egypt)

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural mummies) Etymology: Middle English mummie powdered parts of a mummified body used as a drug, from Anglo-French mumie, from Medieval Latin mumia mummy, powdered mummy, from Arabic m?miya bitumen, mummy, from Persian m?m wax Date: 1615 1. a. a body embalmed or treated for burial with preservatives in the manner of the ancient Egyptians b. a body unusually well preserved 2. one resembling a mummy II. chiefly British variant of mommy

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. (pl. -ies) Brit. colloq. mother. Etymology: imit. of a child's pronunc.: cf. MAMMA(1) 2. n. (pl. -ies) 1 a body of a human being or animal embalmed for burial, esp. in ancient Egypt. 2 a dried-up body. 3 a pulpy mass (beat it to a mummy). 4 a rich brown pigment. Etymology: F momie f. med.L mumia f. Arab. mumiya f. Pers. mum wax

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mummy Mum"my, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mummied; p. pr. & vb. n. Mummying.] To embalm; to mummify.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mummy Mum"my, n.; pl. Mummies. [F. momie; cf. Sp. & Pg. momia, It. mummia; all fr. Per. m?miy[=a], fr. m?m wax.] 1. A dead body embalmed and dried after the manner of the ancient Egyptians; also, a body preserved, by any means, in a dry state, from the process of putrefaction. --Bacon. 2. Dried flesh of a mummy. [Obs.] --Sir. J. Hill. 3. A gummy liquor that exudes from embalmed flesh when heated; -- formerly supposed to have magical and medicinal properties. [Obs.] --Shak. --Sir T. Herbert. 4. A brown color obtained from bitumen. See Mummy brown (below). 5. (Gardening) A sort of wax used in grafting, etc. 6. One whose affections and energies are withered. Mummy brown, a brown color, nearly intermediate in tint between burnt umber and raw umber. A pigment of this color is prepared from bitumen, etc., obtained from Egyptian tombs. Mummy wheat (Bot.), wheat found in the ancient mummy cases of Egypt. No botanist now believes that genuine mummy wheat has been made to germinate in modern times. To beat to a mummy, to beat to a senseless mass; to beat soundly.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(mummies) 1. Some people, especially young children, call their mother mummy. (BRIT INFORMAL; in AM, use mommy) I want my mummy... Mummy says I can play out in the garden. N-FAMILY 2. A mummy is a dead body which was preserved long ago by being rubbed with special oils and wrapped in cloth. ...an Egyptian mummy. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

ashes, biscuit, body, bone, bones, cadaver, carcass, carrion, clay, corpse, corpus delicti, cracker, crowbait, dam, dead body, dead man, dead person, decedent, dry bones, dry up, dust, earth, embalmed corpse, food for worms, foster mother, genetrix, late lamented, ma, mam, mama, mammy, mater, materfamilias, maternal ancestor, matriarch, mom, mommy, mortal remains, mother, mummification, mummify, old lady, organic remains, parchment, relics, reliquiae, remains, shrivel, skeleton, stepmother, stick, stiff, tenement of clay, the dead, the deceased, the defunct, the departed, the loved one, the old woman, welter, wilt, wizen