Mumy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A corpse preserved by embalming and wrapped in bandages, as was done with the dead in ancient Egypt
2. The dried and embalmed body of a dead person, often wrapped in linen strips and kept in a tomb
3. A preserved human body treated with spices, resins and wrappings so that its form survives for centuries

Etymology: Before it named a dead body, this word named a dark, sticky substance. It comes from Medieval Latin "mumia," borrowed from Arabic "mūmiyā," meaning bitumen or pitch, which in turn came from Persian "mūm," meaning wax. European physicians prized the substance as a medicine, and the Arabic term was applied to it. The sense shifted when European traders and doctors discovered that many of the medicinal "mumia" were really embalmed human remains from Egypt, blackened by resins and tar. The name for the medicine then attached itself to the corpses themselves. "Mumy" is an older spelling variant of the modern "mummy," and it reflects that same Latin-Arabic-Persian chain.