Mummies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A deceased body that has been preserved through embalming or drying to prevent decay
2. A historical artifact from ancient cultures, often associated with burial practices and rituals
3. A term used to describe the wrapping of a corpse in linen or other materials, typically found in tombs of ancient civilizations

Etymology: The noun "mummies" is simply the plural of "mummy," so the story belongs to the singular. The most surprising thing is that the word's oldest sense had nothing to do with corpses at all: it meant bitumen or pitch. Medieval Latin "mumia" came from Arabic "mūmiyāʔ," which was borrowed from Persian "mumyâ," itself based on "mum," meaning wax. Europeans encountered a dark, resinous substance from the Near East and called it by that name. The link to dead bodies came from a mix-up. Ancient Egyptian embalmed corpses were often blackened with resin and bitumen, so they looked like the dark substance that had been prized as medicine. Travellers and physicians began to believe that powdered mummy was itself a remedy, and the word drifted from the substance to the preserved body it seemed to come from. Middle English took the word from Anglo-Norman "mumie," passing through Middle French "momie."

Synonyms: embalmed bodies, preserved corpses