mound
/maʊnd/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms mounds mounding mounded
- noun An artificial hill or elevation of earth; a raised bank; an embankment thrown up for defense
- noun A natural elevation appearing as if thrown up artificially; a regular and isolated hill, hillock, or knoll.
- noun (baseball) An elevated area of dirt upon which the pitcher stands to pitch. “The pitcher was waiting at the mound.”
- noun A ball or globe forming part of the regalia of an emperor or other sovereign. It is encircled with bands, enriched with precious stones, and surmounted with a cross.
- noun (US, vulgar, slang) The mons veneris.
- noun (vulgar, slang) A woman's breast.
- noun (obsolete, anatomy, measurement, figuratively) A hand.
- noun (obsolete) A protection; restraint; curb.
- verb (transitive) To fortify with a mound; add a barrier, rampart, etc. to.
- verb (transitive) To force or pile into a mound or mounds. “He mounded up his mashed potatoes so they left more space on the plate for the meat.”
- verb (intransitive) To form a mound.
- proper noun A township in Effingham County, Illinois.
- proper noun A township in McDonough County, Illinois.
- proper noun A township in Warren County, Indiana.
- proper noun A township in McPherson County, Kansas.
- proper noun A village in Madison Parish, Louisiana.
- proper noun A city in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
- proper noun A township in Rock County, Minnesota.
- proper noun A township in Bates County, Missouri.
Synonyms
bulwark rampart earthen mound pitcher's mound globus cruciger globe orb bank bank up heap up pile hill knoll hillock hummock hammock heap agglomerate cumulation cumulus pitcher
Etymology
From earlier meaning "hedge, fence", from Middle English mound, mund (“protection, boundary, raised earthen rampart”), from Old English mund (“hand, hand of protection, protector, guardianship”), from Proto-West Germanic *mundu, from Proto-Germanic *mundō (“hand”), *munduz (“protection, patron”), from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂-nt-éh₂ (“the beckoning one”), from *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”).
Cognate with Old Frisian mund (“guardianship”), Middle Dutch mond (“protection”), Old High German munt (“hand, protection”) German Mündel (“ward”), Vormund (“guardian”)), Icelandic and Old Norse mund (“hand”), and possibly Latin manus (“hand”), Ancient Greek μάρη (márē, “hand”). Not related to mount.
From mound.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A ball or globe forming part of the regalia of an emperor or other sovereign. It is encircled with bands, enriched with precious stones, and surmounted with a cross; --called also globe.
- noun An artificial hill or elevation of earth; a raised bank; an embarkment thrown up for defense; a bulwark; a rampart; also, a natural elevation appearing as if thrown up artificially; a regular and isolated hill, hillock, or knoll.
- verb To fortify or inclose with a mound.
Etymology [F. monde the world, L. mundus. See Mundane.]
Etymology [OE. mound, mund, protection, AS. mund protection, hand; akin to OHG. munt, Icel. mund hand, and prob. to L. manus. See Manual.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mound”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details