MAFIA

I. noun Etymology: ~, Maffia, a Sicilian secret criminal society, from Italian dialect (Sicily), probably from mafiusu Date: 1875 1. a secret criminal society of Sicily or Italy, a similarly conceived criminal organization in the United States, a criminal organization associated with a particular traffic , a group of people likened to the ~, II. geographical name island Tanzania in Indian Ocean S of Zanzibar area 170 square miles (442 square kilometers ), population 16,748