n.
Pronunciation: ' güm- ˌ bä
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian dialect (Campania) cumbà, vocative form of cumbare respected older man, literally, godfather, from Medieval Latin compater ― more at COMPEER
Date: 1968
1 : a close friend or associate ― used especially among Italian-American men
2 : a member of a secret chiefly Italian-American crime organization : MAFIOSO broadly : GANGSTER
3 : a macho Italian-American man