v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Mummed p. pr. & vb. n. Mumming. ] [ D. mimmen to mask, mom a mask; akin to G. mumme disguise; prob. of imitative origin, and akin to E. mum, mumble, in allusion to the indistinctness of speech occasioned by talking from behind a mask. Cf. Mumble, Mummery. ] To sport or make diversion in a mask or disguise; to mask. [ 1913 Webster ]

With mumming and with masking all around. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. mommeur. See Mumm, and cf. Momier. ] One who mumms, or makes diversion in disguise; a masker; a buffon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jugglers and dancers, antics, mummers. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Mummeries [ F. momerie, of Dutch or German origin. See Mumm. ] 1. Masking; frolic in disguise; buffoonery. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mummery of foreign strollers. Fenton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Farcical show; hypocritical disguise and parade or ceremonies. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Amer. Indian name. ] (Zool.) Any one of several species of small American cyprinodont fishes of the genus Fundulus, and of allied genera; the killifishes; -- called also minnow. [ Written also mummychog, mummachog. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Mummify. ] The act of making a mummy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Converted into a mummy or a mummylike substance; having the appearance of a mummy; withered. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Mummy + -form. ] Having some resemblance to a mummy; -- in Zoology, said of the pupae of certain insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Mummified p. pr. & vb. n. Mummifying ] [ Mummy + -fy: cf. F. momifier. ] To embalm and dry as a mummy; to make into, or like, a mummy. Hall (1646). [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To turn into a mummy-like corpse; to dry up with unusually little decomposition; -- said of dead animals; as, A mummified body was found in the attic. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Mummies [ F. momie; cf. Sp. & Pg. momia, It. mummia; all fr. Per. mūmiyā, fr. mūm wax. ] 1. A dead body embalmed and dried after the manner of the ancient Egyptians; also, a body preserved, by any means, in a dry state, from the process of putrefaction. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Dried flesh of a mummy. [ Obs. ] Sir. J. Hill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A gummy liquor that exudes from embalmed flesh when heated; -- formerly supposed to have magical and medicinal properties. [ Obs. ] Shak. Sir T. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A brown color obtained from bitumen. See Mummy brown (below). [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Gardening) A sort of wax used in grafting, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. One whose affections and energies are withered. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mummy brown, a brown color, nearly intermediate in tint between burnt umber and raw umber. A pigment of this color is prepared from bitumen, etc., obtained from Egyptian tombs. --
Mummy wheat (Bot.), wheat found in the ancient mummy cases of Egypt. No botanist now believes that genuine mummy wheat has been made to germinate in modern times. --
To beat to a mummy, to beat to a senseless mass; to beat soundly. [ 1913 Webster ]