A Sicilian surname of Germanic origin, derived from the compound Muni Frithu, with the meaning "peace of protection" or "truce of guardianship", formed by muni (a variant of mund: protection, guardianship) and frithu (peace, truce). The root frithu is the same that designated in old Anglo-Saxon law the frith or "king's peace", a special legal state under which the public roads, markets and assemblies were protected by the royal authority, the violation of that peace being punished with particularly severe penalties, distinct from those applied to ordinary crimes outside the royal sphere.