Meaning

(countable) An embalmed human or non-human animal corpse wrapped in linen bandages for burial, especially as practised by the ancient Egyptians and some Native American tribes..

Definitions by Sense

1. (countable) An embalmed human or non-human animal corpse wrapped in linen bandages for burial, especially as practised by the ancient Egyptians and some Native American tribes.
2. (countable, by extension) A reanimated embalmed human corpse, as a stock character in horror films.
3. (countable, by extension) Any naturally preserved human or non-human animal body.
4. Any naturally preserved human or non-human animal body. (countable, uncountable, now rare) A brown pigment originally prepared from the ground-up remains of Egyptian animal or human mummies mixed with bitumen, etc.
5. (uncountable, now rare) A pulp.
6. (uncountable, medicine, now historical) A substance used in medicine, prepared from mummified flesh.
7. (uncountable, horticulture, obsolete) A sort of wax used in grafting.
8. (transitive, dated) To mummify.

Example Sentences

1832, Royal Society (Great Britain), Abstracts of The Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, From 1800 to 1830 inclusive, Volume 1: 1800-1814, page 201, […] Mr. Pearson proceeds to give a particular description of the very perfect mummy of an Ibis, which forms the chief subject of the present paper.

Leo was the first to discover what these burdens were. `Great heaven!' he said, `they are corpses on fire!' I stared and stared again - he was perfectly right - the torches that were to light our entertainment were human mummies from the caves! On rushed the bearers of the flaming corpses, and, meeting at a spot about twenty paces in front of us, built their ghastly burdens crossways into a huge bonfire.

But, more horrible, I had not failed to note that its purplish gleaming body resembled that of a human being - or of a chrysalis encasing one - or of a mummy!

Many people believed in the curse of the mummy, and soon, the curse had become an accepted part of Tut′s legend.

For many, mummies fascinate more than repel. Our horrific connotations lie not so much with the mummy itself, but in associated fears. The mummy serves, of course, as a general reminder of our own mortality and our fear of death, but this alone is not enough to make it a monster.

'Mummy,' that is pounded ancient Egyptian, is, I believe, a pigment much used by artists, and especially by those of them who direct their talents to the reproduction of the works of the old masters.

Imagine twenty thouſand of them breaking into the midſt of an European Army, confounding the Ranks, overturning the Carriages, battering the Warriors Faces into Mummy, by terrible Yerks from their hinder Hoofs.

Word Forms

• mummies
• mummying
• mummied
• mommy
• mummie

Synonyms for mummy

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When Should You Use Mummy?

Use mummy when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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