The word mafia originated from an 1863 play about Palermo prisoners.

Evidence

The most likely origin of the actual meaning of mafioso and its derivative mafia—as suggested by the nineteenth century Sicilian ethnographer Giuseppe Pitre—is a play by Placido Rizzotto, I Mafiusi della Vicaria, first performed in 1863.18 According to a (probably apocryphal) source, the idea of using such a term arose by chance when the irritated question “Chi vurrissi fari u mafiusu cu mia?” (Are you trying to be arrogant with me?) was overheard on a Palermo street. The play concerns a group of prisoners in the Palermo jail who command particular respect: although individualistic and quarrelsome, they are members of an association with distinct patterns of behavior (including an initiation ritual) and a hierarchy, which claims it can influence the political and administrative system of the island. The word mafiusi appears for the first time as an alternative to camorristi. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 353

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the actual etymology of ‘mafia’/‘mafioso’ — from a play, not from a deeper tradition.
• CANDY: A play written in 1863 gave the Mafia its name — performed 2000+ times over 21 years — a fun trivia fact.