mum|my

mum|my¹ «MUHM ee», noun, plural -mies, verb, -mied, -my|ing.

–n.

1. a dead body preserved from decay. Egyptian mummies have lasted more than 3,000 years. »

Figurative. The old theological dogmas had become mere mummies (Leslie Stephen).

2. a dead human or animal body dried and preserved by nature.

3. a withered or shrunken living being.

4. a) a rich brown bituminous pigment. b) a rich brown color.

5. British Dialect. a pulpy mass: »

battering the warriors' faces into mummy by terrible yerks from their hinder hoofs (Jonathan Swift).

6. Obsolete. dead flesh; a corpse.

7. Obsolete. bone or tissue matter from a mummy, formerly used as a medicine.

–v.t., v.i.

= mummify. (Cf. ↑mummify)

╂[< Old French mumie, learned borrowing from Medieval Latin mumia < Arabic mūmiyā embalmed body < Persian mūm wax]

mum|my² «MUHM ee», noun, plural -mies.

Informal. mother.