mafia

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a crime syndicate in the United States; organized in families; believed to have important relations to the Sicilian Mafia
  2. noun a secret terrorist group in Sicily; originally opposed tyranny but evolved into a criminal organization in the middle of the 19th century
  3. noun any tightly knit group of trusted associates

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

Maffia, Cosa Nostra

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