Mafia (English: / ˈmɑːfiə /; Italian: [ˈmaːfja]) derives from the Sicilian adjective mafiusu, which roughly translated means "swagger" but can also be translated as "boldness" or "bravado". [1] According to scholar Diego Gambetta, mafiusu (mafioso in Italian) in 19th-century Sicily in reference to a mansignified "fearless", "enterprising", and "proud". [nb 1] In reference to a woman, the ...Mafiosi introduce known members to each other as belonging to cosa nostra ("our thing") or la stessa cosa ("the same thing"), meaning "he is the same thing as you – a mafioso."
mafioso (ˌmæfɪˈəʊsəʊ; Italian mafiˈoso) n, pl -sos or -si (Italian -si) (Sociology) a person belonging to the Mafia