# Mafia

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈmɑfi.ə/ · frequency rank #9,208

## Definitions
1. The Mob: any particular mafia, mentioned uniquely within the discussion's established or implicit context, usually and especially the Sicilian-Italian–Italian-American one (especially in American English) but occasionally others (e.g., the Russian one, the Japanese one).
2. The Mob: any particular mafia, mentioned uniquely within the discussion's established or implicit context, usually and especially the Sicilian-Italian–Italian-American one (especially in American English) but occasionally others (e.g., the Russian one, the Japanese one).

## Etymology
Borrowed from Italian mafia, of uncertain origin. In the first instance, it is not clear whether the lemma in question is a Sicilian exonym or endonym, since written and oral sources on this term are scarce, the etymology remains uncertain and it's worthy of further investigation. It is possibly a regional term of the then recently established Kingdom of Italy; thus the meaning "spirit of hostility to the law" could be just derivative. The hypotheses put forward have been varied, but not very convincing from a reconstructive point of view. See Sicilian mafia for more. See, also, the Wikipedia article for more discussion of the origin of the word. Doublet of mafiya.

## Easily confused with
- **MIA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mia)
- **mai** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mai)
- **main** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-main)
- **mail** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mail)
- **mama** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mama)
- **Maya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-maya)
- **maid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-maid)
- **Mali** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mali)
- **mata** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mata)
- **mara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mara)
- **Maui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-maui)
- **maga** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-maga)
- **mana** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mana)
- **maxi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-maxi)
- **mani** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mani)
- **Mari** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mari)
- **Maia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-maia)
- **Mais** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-mais)
- **maki** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-maki)
- **magi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mafia-vs-magi)

## Common misspellings (6)
`amfia`, `mafai`, `maffia`, `maifa`, `mfaia`, `mmafia`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mafia