mazuma

mazuma
mazuma (n.) slang for "money," 1894, from Yiddish, from Mishnaic Hebrew mezumman "designated, fixed, appointed," used in Medieval Hebrew in sense of "cash" (Cf. slang the needful "money"), from Akkad. simanu "appointed time." It figured in "People v. Stokes," case argued before Supreme Court of California (1894), which cites newspaper coverage of an earlier trial mentioning "Colonel Mazuma":
It appears that the term "Colonel Mazuma" not only does not indicate some gentleman with a military title, but it does not even refer to a person at all. We fail to find the term mentioned by our lexicographers, but understand it to be a modern provincialism, probably emanating from the daily press, and used when referring to the corrupt application of money in the accomplishment of certain ends. If these jurors understood this term with the signification thus attached to it, it of itself furnished ample material to demand a retrial of the case. ["Pacific Reporter," vol. 37]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • mažuma — mažumà sf. (3b) 1. mažoji dalis: Žieminiame Padauguvyje sėliai darę gyventojų mažuma K.Būg. Tik urvo mažumą nušviečiama ugnelės Vr. Mažumà kas turi šiaudų Btr. Man jau tik mažumà papuolė Užp. 2. Kos41, I mažas daiktas, menkniekis, smulkmė: Kur …   Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language

  • mažuma — mažumà dkt. Móterys sudãro Sei̇̃mo mãžumą …   Bendrinės lietuvių kalbos žodyno antraštynas

  • mazuma — ☆ mazuma [mə zo͞o′mə ] n. [Yiddish mezumon < Heb mezūmānim] Slang money …   English World dictionary

  • mazuma — AND mazulla [ma”zuma AND ma zula] n. money. (From Hebrew mezu man via Yiddish.) □ How much mazuma do you want for this? □ She’s got more mazuma than she knows what to do with …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • mazuma — noun /məˈzuːmə/ Cash, money. I can post some strong arm talent outside, but even non Union like everything else in town, after a while that runs into considerable mazuma so we should be thinking about longer term solutions …   Wiktionary

  • mazuma —    (mah ZOO mah) [Yiddish, from Hebrew] A slang term for money; ready cash.    losing a few customers to the competition is well worth the 40,000 mazuma the site earns in exchange Time, December 17, 1996 …   Dictionary of foreign words and phrases

  • mazuma — /meuh zooh meuh/, n. Slang. money. [1875 80; < Yiddish mezumen < Heb mezuman set, fixed] * * * …   Universalium

  • Mazuma — money (Yiddish) …   Dictionary of Australian slang

  • mazuma — Australian Slang money (Yiddish) …   English dialects glossary

  • mazuma — (Roget s Thesaurus II) noun Slang. Something, such as coins or printed bills, used as a medium of exchange: cash, currency, lucre, money. Informal: wampum. Slang: bread, cabbage, dough, gelt, green, jack, lettuce, long green, moola, scratch.… …   English dictionary for students

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