mafia
English edit
Etymology edit
See Mafia. The sense "entity which attempts to control a specified arena" makes an analogy to crime-syndicate mafias' attempts to control certain kinds of business in the regions in which they exist.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
mafia (plural mafias)
- A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion.
- A crime syndicate.
- A trusted group of associates, as of a political leader.
- (in compound terms such as "moral mafia") An entity which attempts to control a specified arena by violence or threats.
- 1994, Francis Wheen, Lord Gnome's Literary Companion, page 161:
- Worse, it confirms what one always suspected about the 1930s literary mafia, with their graceless posing and relentless self-obsession — what terrible , terrible bores they were.
- 2000, Senator Robert Torricelli, Andrew Carroll, In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century, page 432:
- Since the victory of gadgetry is "inevitable," you might as well come along quietly and let us smother you in speed and convenience, says the digital mafia.
- 2019, Anne Holt, In Dust and Ashes, page 83:
- I can scarcely leave the apartment without being engulfed by journalists, not to mention the fucking left-wing activists and the multicultural mafia that assailed me with spitting and verbal abuse the last time I ventured out […]
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
|
Danish edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
mafia c (singular definite mafiaen, plural indefinite mafiaer)
- A mafia.
Declension edit
common gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | mafia | mafiaen | mafiaer | mafiaerne |
genitive | mafias | mafiaens | mafiaers | mafiaernes |
Derived terms edit
Finnish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
mafia
Declension edit
Inflection of mafia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | mafia | mafiat | ||
genitive | mafian | mafioiden mafioitten | ||
partitive | mafiaa | mafioita | ||
illative | mafiaan | mafioihin | ||
singular | plural | |||
nominative | mafia | mafiat | ||
accusative | nom. | mafia | mafiat | |
gen. | mafian | |||
genitive | mafian | mafioiden mafioitten mafiainrare | ||
partitive | mafiaa | mafioita | ||
inessive | mafiassa | mafioissa | ||
elative | mafiasta | mafioista | ||
illative | mafiaan | mafioihin | ||
adessive | mafialla | mafioilla | ||
ablative | mafialta | mafioilta | ||
allative | mafialle | mafioille | ||
essive | mafiana | mafioina | ||
translative | mafiaksi | mafioiksi | ||
abessive | mafiatta | mafioitta | ||
instructive | — | mafioin | ||
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
Further reading edit
- “mafia”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
mafia f (plural mafias)
- the Mafia
Further reading edit
- “mafia”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
mafia f (plural mafias)
Derived terms edit
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Sicilian mafiusu, of uncertain origin.[1] Most likely from Arabic مَهْيَاص (mahyāṣ, “cocky, bragger”)[2] (compare Hebrew מָחַץ (“makháts”) to crush, though Piedmontese mafio[3][4] is considered another possible source.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
mafia f (plural mafie)
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- → German: Mafia
- → Turkish: mafya
- → Maltese: mafja
- → Romanian: mafie
- → Russian: ма́фия (máfija)
- → Spanish: mafia
References edit
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Alternative forms edit
- (non-standard since 1987) maffia
Noun edit
mafia m (definite singular mafiaen, indefinite plural mafiaer, definite plural mafiaene)
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
mafia m (definite singular mafiaen, indefinite plural mafiaer or mafiaar, definite plural mafiaene or mafiaane)
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Italian mafia, from Sicilian.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
mafia f
- mafia (crime syndicate)
- Synonym: ośmiornica
- mafia (trusted group of associates, as of a political leader)
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
mafia f (plural mafias)
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “mafia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014