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) 3.0 (2006) [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}, {Maffia}, {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}, {Maffia}, {Sicilian
Mafia}]
3: any tightly knit group of trusted associates [syn: {mafia},
{maffia}]
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