MUMMIFY (mummified)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: mummified   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mummify mean? 

• MUMMIFY (verb)
  The verb MUMMIFY has 3 senses:

1. preserve while making lifeless

2. remove the organs and dry out (a dead body) in order to preserve it

3. dry up and shrivel due to complete loss of moisture

  Familiarity information: MUMMIFY used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MUMMIFY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mummify    ... he / she / it mummifies   
Past simple: mummified   
Past participle: mummified   
-ing form: mummifying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Preserve while making lifeless

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

mummified ideas and institutions should be gotten rid of

Hypernyms (to "mummify" is one way to...):

bear on; carry on; continue; preserve; uphold (keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

mummification (a condition resembling that of a mummy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Remove the organs and dry out (a dead body) in order to preserve it

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

Th Egyptians mummified their pharaohs

Hypernyms (to "mummify" is one way to...):

embalm (preserve a dead body)

Verb group:

dry up; mummify (dry up and shrivel due to complete loss of moisture)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

mummification (embalmment and drying a dead body and wrapping it as a mummy)

mummy (a body embalmed and dried and wrapped for burial (as in ancient Egypt))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Dry up and shrivel due to complete loss of moisture

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

dry up; mummify

Context example:

a mummified body was found

Hypernyms (to "mummify" is one way to...):

shrink; shrivel; shrivel up; wither (wither, as with a loss of moisture)

Verb group:

mummify (remove the organs and dry out (a dead body) in order to preserve it)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

mummy (a body embalmed and dried and wrapped for burial (as in ancient Egypt))

 Context examples 

At first, as I examined it, I thought that it was a mummified negro baby, and then it seemed a very twisted and ancient monkey.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

DNA recovered from ancient biological material (e.g., archaeological and historical skeletal material, mummified tissues, preserved plant remains, ice and permafrost cores).

(Ancient DNA, NCI Thesaurus)

Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr Mostafa Waziri, said he believes this is the first time the preserved insects have ever been found, saying we asked museums in many countries if they have mummified scarabs, but no one have mummified scarabs till today.

(Egyptian Archaeologists Uncover One-Of-A-Kind Tomb South of Cairo, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The team collected DNA samples from mummified birds collected from six separate catacombs including sites at Abydos, Saqqara, and Tuna el-Gebel with permission from the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquity, and several museums offered to send tissue samples from the mummified ibises in their collections.

(Ancient Egyptians collected wild ibis birds for sacrifice, says study, Wikinews)

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a rare collection of mummified scarab beetles, as well as an apparently pristine Fifth Dynasty tomb they plan to open in the coming weeks in the Saqqara necropolis, 30 km (19mi) south of Cairo.

(Egyptian Archaeologists Uncover One-Of-A-Kind Tomb South of Cairo, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Lead author Sally Wasef of Australia's Griffith University explained to the press, The ibis was considered to represent the god Thoth, the god of wisdom, the god of magic, the god of judgment, writing all sorts of things (...) If you had a boss that annoys you and you don't feel like you are getting a good judgment from him or you want fairness and justice, you go and ask Thoth to interfere and in return you promise to offer him an ibis, a mummified ibis, in his annual feast.

(Ancient Egyptians collected wild ibis birds for sacrifice, says study, Wikinews)

Three of the tombs, which date back to the New Kingdom period and are between 3500 and 3000 years old, appear to have been used for feline burial as dozens of mummified moggies were discovered within, as well as wooden cat statutes and representations of the cat goddess Bast.

(Egyptian Archaeologists Uncover One-Of-A-Kind Tomb South of Cairo, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Millions of mummified ibis birds have been found in Egyptian tombs and catacombs in Saqqara and Tuna el-Gebel, and Egyptologists have reported they were sacrificed to the god Thoth, who is often depicted with the head of an ibis, the way Horus is shown with the head of a falcon and Bast with the head of a cat.

(Ancient Egyptians collected wild ibis birds for sacrifice, says study, Wikinews)