Definition of "omertà" []

• A rule or code that prohibits speaking or divulging information about certain activities, especially the activities of a criminal organization. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Rarely, if ever, has a Vatican official used the word "omerta" - a serious accusation in Italian -- to compare the reluctance of some in the Church to come clean on the abuse scandal with the Mafia's code of silence."
• "He asked Mr Murdoch if he had heard of the mafia and then asked if he had heard the phrase 'omerta', the mafia code of silence."
• "Tom Watson asked James Murdoch, who is facing the Commons Select Committee for the second time, whether he was familiar with the mafia term 'omerta' - commonly defined as a "code of silence"."