Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
MUMMY
mummy
(noun) a body embalmed and dried and wrapped for burial (as in ancient Egypt)
ma, mama, mamma, mom, momma, mommy, mammy, mum, mummy
(noun) informal terms for a mother
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
mummy (countable and uncountable, plural mummies)
(countable) An embalmed human or animal corpse wrapped in linen bandages for burial, especially as practised by the ancient Egyptians and some Native American tribes. [from 17th c.]
(countable, by extension) A reanimated embalmed human corpse, as a typical character in horror films. [from 20th c.]
(countable, by extension) Any naturally preserved human or animal body. [from 18th c.]
(countable, uncountable, now, rare) A brown pigment originally prepared from the ground-up remains of Egyptian animal or human mummies mixed with bitumen, etc. [from 19th c.]
Synonym: mummy brown
(uncountable, now, rare) A pulp. [from 17th c.]
(uncountable, medicine, now historical) A substance used in medicine, prepared from mummified flesh. [from 14th c.]
(uncountable, horticulture, obsolete) A sort of wax used in grafting. [18th c.]
Verb
mummy (third-person singular simple present mummies, present participle mummying, simple past and past participle mummied)
(transitive, dated) To mummify.
Etymology 2
Diminutive of mum, related to mom and mommy, from mother.
Noun
mummy (plural mummies)
(chiefly, UK, usually, childish) mother.
Proper noun
Mummy
(colloquial, childish) One's mother.
Source: Wiktionary
Mum"my, n.; pl. Mummies. Etym: [F. momie; cf. Sp. & Pg. momia, It. mummia; all fr. Per. m, fr. 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.
2. Dried flesh of a mummy. [Obs.] Sir. J. Hill.
3. A gummy liquor that exudes from embalmed flesh when heated; -- formerly supposed to have magical and medicinal properties. [Obs.] Shak. Sir T. Herbert.
4. A brown color obtained from bitumen. See Mummy brown (below).
5. (Gardening)
Definition: A sort of wax used in grafting, etc.
6. One whose affections and energies are withered. 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.
Mum"my, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mummied; p. pr. & vb. n. Mummying.]
Definition: To embalm; to mummify.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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