cgilbert@... asked this question on 4/5/2000:

What does cosa nostra mean?

Don_Blachiavelli gave this response on 4/5/2000:

Cosa Nostra literally means "thing of ours" or "our thing". The average Joe refers to this organization as the Mafia. The Mafia is actually the Sicilian secret criminal society, as the Camorra is the Neapolitan secret criminal society. La Cosa Nostra is the American combination.