(1)a close friend or associate -- used especially among Italian-American men
(
2)a member of a
secret chiefly Italian-American crime organization
(3)a macho Italian-American man
(4)pal or companion
(5)character in mario bros
Pronunciation: 'güm-"bä
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian dialect (Campania) cumbà, vocative form of cumbare respected older man,
literally, godfather, from Medieval Latin compater