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cosa nostra

 - 3 dictionary results

Co⋅sa Nos⋅tra

[koh-zuh nohs-truh]
–noun
a secret association engaged in organized crime in the U.S., modeled after and affiliated with the Mafia.

Origin:
1960–65; < It: lit., our affair
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Co·sa Nos·tra   (kō'sə nō'strə)   
n.  The Mafia operating in the United States.

[Italian, our concern : cosa, thing, affair + nostra, feminine of nostro, our.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cosa nostra 
1963, "the Mafia in America," from It., lit. "this thing of ours."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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