Maffia

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Maffia
       n 1: a crime syndicate in the United States; organized in
            families; believed to have important relations to the
            Sicilian Mafia [syn: {Mafia}, {Cosa Nostra}]
       2: a secret terrorist group in Sicily; originally opposed
          tyranny but evolved into a criminal organization in the
          middle of the 19th century [syn: {Mafia}, {Sicilian Mafia}]
       3: any tightly knit group of trusted associates [syn: {mafia}]