mafia

/ˈmä-fē-ə/

Mafia, Maffia, a Sicilian secret criminal society, from Italian dialect (Sicily), probably from mafiusu

noun

  1. a secret criminal society of Sicily or Italy

  2. a similarly conceived criminal organization in the U.S.; also : a similar organization elsewhere

  3. a criminal organization associated with a particular traffic

geographical name

  1. island of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean south of Zanzibar area 170 square miles (442 square kilometers), population 16,748

noun

  1. a secret criminal organization in Italy