'Mafia' definitions:
Definition of 'Mafia'
(from WordNet)
noun
A crime syndicate in the United States; organized in families; believed to have important relations to the Sicilian Mafia [syn: Mafia, Maffia, Cosa Nostra]
noun
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]
noun
Any tightly knit group of trusted associates [syn: mafia, maffia]
Definition of 'Mafia'
From: GCIDE
Definition of 'Mafia'
From: GCIDE
- Maffia \Maf"fi*a\, Mafia \Ma"fi*a\, n. [It. maffia.]
- 1. 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; called also the Sicilian Mafia. [WordNet sense 2] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- 2. A group of loosely associated of criminal organizations in the United States, some having ties to the Sicilian Mafia, and organized in "families"; the term is applied to the entire group of organizations, or to any one local group. Also, loosely, organized groups of criminals anywhere, as the Russian mafia. [WordNet sense 1]
- Syn: syndicate, mob, Cosa Nostra, La Cosa Nostra, organized crime. [WordNet 1.6 + PJC]
- 3. Any tightly knit group of trusted associates having strong control or influence in some area; as, Kennedy and his Irish Mafia. [informal] [WordNet sense 3] [PJC]
Definition of 'mafia'
From: GCIDE
- Syndicate \Syn"di*cate\, n. [Cf. F. syndicat, LL. syndicatus.]
- 1. The office or jurisdiction of a syndic; a council, or body of syndics. --Bp. Burnet. [1913 Webster]
- 2. An association of persons officially authorized to undertake some duty or to negotiate some business; also, an association of persons who combine to carry out, on their own account, a financial or industrial project; as, a syndicate of bankers formed to take up and dispose of an entire issue of government bonds. [1913 Webster]
- 3. A more or less organized association of criminals controlling some aspects of criminal activity, in a specific area or country-wide; -- used loosely as a synonym for organized crime or the mafia. [PJC]
- 4. (Journalism) a commercial organization that purchases various journalistic items, such as articles, columns, or comic strips, from their individual creators, and resells them to newspapers or other periodicals for simultaneous publication over a wide area. [PJC]
Synonyms of 'Mafia'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- Black Hand,
- black market,
- bootlegging,
- Cosa Nostra,
- gambling,
- gangdom,
- gangland,
- gray market,
- illegal commerce,
- illegal operations,
- illegitimate business,
- illicit business,
- loan-sharking,
- moonshining,
- narcotics traffic,
- organized crime,
- prostitution,
- protection racket,
- racket,
- shady dealings,
- the Mafia,
- the mob,
- the rackets,
- the syndicate,
- the underworld,
- traffic in women,
- usury,
- white slavery