mummy

/ˈmʌmi/

/ˈmʌmi/

Other forms: mummies

A mummy is either a preserved dead body or a British person’s mom, ideally not at the same time. In ancient Egypt, preserving a body as a mummy was part of a religious belief in an afterlife.

Today, some bodies are embalmed and preserved after death, but rarely with the same ceremony that preparing a mummy involved. Most mummies were wrapped in cloth and treated with chemicals, after having their internal organs removed. Many countries have ancient mummy traditions, including China, Libya, Iran, and Italy, as well as the country most famous for its mummies, Egypt. The word comes from the Arabic mumiyah.

Definitions of mummy

1. noun

   a body embalmed and dried and wrapped for burial (as in ancient Egypt)
   type of:

   body, dead body

   a natural object consisting of a dead animal or person
2. noun

   informal terms for a mother
   synonyms: ma, mama, mamma, mammy, mom, momma, mommy, mum

   type of:

   female parent, mother

   a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)