mummy
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Mummy \Mum"my\ (m[u^]m"m[y^]), n.; pl. {Mummies}
(m[u^]m"m[i^]z). [F. momie; cf. Sp. & Pg. momia, It. mummia;
all fr. Per. m[=u]miy[=a], fr. m[=u]m 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.
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2. Dried flesh of a mummy. [Obs.] --Sir. J. Hill.
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3. A gummy liquor that exudes from embalmed flesh when
heated; -- formerly supposed to have magical and medicinal
properties. [Obs.] --Shak. --Sir T. Herbert.
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4. A brown color obtained from bitumen. See {Mummy brown}
(below).
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5. (Gardening) A sort of wax used in grafting, etc.
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6. One whose affections and energies are withered.
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{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]
from
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906)
MUMMY, n. An ancient Egyptian, formerly in universal use among modern
civilized nations as medicine, and now engaged in supplying art with
an excellent pigment. He is handy, too, in museums in gratifying the
vulgar curiosity that serves to distinguish man from the lower
animals.
By means of the Mummy, mankind, it is said,
Attests to the gods its respect for the dead.
We plunder his tomb, be he sinner or saint,
Distil him for physic and grind him for paint,
Exhibit for money his poor, shrunken frame,
And with levity flock to the scene of the shame.
O, tell me, ye gods, for the use of my rhyme:
For respecting the dead what's the limit of time?
Scopas Brune
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
62 Moby Thesaurus words for "mummy":
ashes, biscuit, body, bone, bones, cadaver, carcass, carrion, clay,
corpse, corpus delicti, cracker, crowbait, dam, dead body,
dead man, dead person, decedent, dry bones, dry up, dust, earth,
embalmed corpse, food for worms, foster mother, genetrix,
late lamented, ma, mam, mama, mammy, mater, materfamilias,
maternal ancestor, matriarch, mom, mommy, mortal remains, mother,
mummification, mummify, old lady, organic remains, parchment,
relics, reliquiae, remains, shrivel, skeleton, stepmother, stick,
stiff, tenement of clay, the dead, the deceased, the defunct,
the departed, the loved one, the old woman, welter, wilt, wizen
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