(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