English

Noun

omertà ‎(uncountable)

1. A code of silence amongst members of a criminal organization (especially the Mafia) that forbids divulging insider secrets to law enforcement; figuratively, any code of silence.
   • 2005, Boston Globe, March 4, 2005:

     Patriarca pleaded guilty in December 1991 to racketeering and conspiracy charges, but he refused to admit he was a member of the Mafia, clinging to his vow of 'omerta' to the secret organization.

   • 2006, Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2006:

     There was a time that high-profile killings such as the 1968 assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. brought passionate cries for limitations on handguns. A bipartisan omerta now smothers the issue.

   • 2016, "How the FDA Manipulates the Media," Scientific American, October, 2016:

     The FDA was not pleased that the omertà had been broken.

See also

• wall of silence

Anagrams

• Teramo

Italian

Etymology

Southern dialect form of umiltà ‎(“humility”).

Pronunciation

[omerˈta]

Noun

omertà f ‎(invariable)

1. omertà
2. code of silence

Derived terms

• omertoso

Anagrams

• remato
• remota
• Teramo