mia-mia
noun
a temporary, hutlike shelter built by Aboriginal tribes in Australia.
mia-mia
American
[mahy-uh-mahy-uh]
/ ˈmaɪ əˌmaɪ ə /
noun
mia mia
British
/ ˈmiːə ˈmiːə /
noun
Etymology
Origin of mia-mia
First recorded in 1835–45; from Ganay or Kurnai (Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in Gippsland, Victoria), recorded as mai-mai “camp, hut”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A woodchopper returning from his work told us that he found on a hill, some distance away, a rude mia-mia or wind shelter made of the branches of a wild cherry tree.
From The Land of the Kangaroo Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through the Great Island Continent by Knox, Thomas Wallace
I am so weak as to be incapable of crawling out of the mia-mia.
From Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia by Wills, William John
King had already buried the rest of the field-books near the mia-mia.
From The Red True Story Book by Ford, H. J. (Henry Justice)
I feel much weaker than ever and can scarcely crawl out of the mia-mia.
From Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia by Wills, William John
On again next morning to another of the native camps; but, finding it empty, the wanderers took possession of the best mia-mia, and Wills and King were sent out to collect nardoo.
From The Red True Story Book by Ford, H. J. (Henry Justice)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
