When you hear 'mummy' are you hearing English or Arabic?

'Mummy' is a word borrowed from Arabic 'mūmiyā'. The word entered the English language some time around 1615.

mummy [noun] [1615]

• a body embalmed or treated for burial with preservatives in the manner of the ancient Egyptians
• a body unusually well preserved
• one resembling a mummy

See 'mummy' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from Arabic.

Etymology: Middle English 'mummie' powdered parts of a mummified body used as a drug, from Anglo-French 'mumie' from Medieval Latin 'mumia' mummy, powdered mummy, from Arabic 'mūmiya' bitumen, mummy, from Persian 'mūm' wax

See more loan words from 1600s.