Hypertext Webster Gateway: "mafia"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Maffia \Maf"fi*a\, Mafia \Ma"fi*a\, n. [It. maffia.]
A secret society which organized in Sicily as a political
organization, but is now widespread among Italians, and is
used to further or protect private interests, reputedly by
illegal methods.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
Mafia
n 1: a crime syndicate in the United States; organized in
families; believed to have important relations to the
Sicilian Mafia [syn: {Mafia}, {Maffia}, {Cosa Nostra}]
2: a secret terrorist group in Sicily; originally opposed
tyranny but evolved into a criminal organization in the
middle of the 19th century [syn: {Mafia}, {Maffia}, {Sicilian
Mafia}]
3: (informal) any tightly knit group of trusted associates
[syn: {maffia}]
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