mum·my¹ / ˈməmē/ • n. (pl. -mies) 1. (esp. in ancient Egypt) a body of a human being or animal that has been ceremonially preserved by removal of the internal organs, treatment with natron and resin, and wrapping in bandages. 2. a well-preserved, desiccated body.mum·my² • n. (pl. -mies) British term for mommy.

mummy especially in ancient Egypt, a body of a human being or animal that has been ceremonially preserved by removal of the internal organs, treatment with natron and resin, and wrapping in bandages. In Egypt the preservation of the body was regarded as important for the afterlife.

The idea of a mummy whose rest has been disturbed becoming an active and malevolent entity has become a staple of horror books and films, as in the Hammer Films Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964).

The word is recorded from late Middle English, denoting a substance taken from embalmed bodies and used in medicines; it comes from French momie, from medieval Latin mumia and Arabic mūmiyā ‘embalmed body’, perhaps from Persian mūm ‘wax’.

mummy Human body embalmed and usually wrapped in bandages before burial. The practice was common in ancient Egypt, where religion decreed that the dead would require the use of their bodies in the afterlife. Certain other peoples, including the Incas of South America, had similar practices.

mummy1 † medicinal preparation of the substance of mummies, unctuous liquid XIV; † sovereign remedy, etc. XVI; body embalmed for burial XVII. — (O)F. momie, † mumie — medL. mumia — Arab. mūmiya embalmed body, f. mūm wax (used in embalming).
Hence mummify XVII.

mummy2 nursery var. of MAMMY (S. V. MAM). XIX.
Also mum.