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The word 'mafia' derives form of old Sicilian adjective "mafiusu" which has its roots in the Arabic mahjas, meaning "aggressive boasting, bragging". Roughly translated it means "swagger", but can also be translated as "boldness, bravado". In reference to a man, "mafiusu" in nineteenth-century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising, and proud, according to scholar Diego Gambetta.[1]

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14y ago

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