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.
This evening I camped very comfortably in a mia-mia, about eleven miles from the depot.
From Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia by William John Wills
King had already buried the rest of the field-books near the mia-mia.
From The Red True Story Book by H. J. (Henry Justice) Ford
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 H. J. (Henry Justice) Ford
I feel much weaker than ever and can scarcely crawl out of the mia-mia.
From Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia by William John Wills
Here they found King sitting alone in the mia-mia the natives had made for him, wasted and worn to a shadow, almost imbecile from the terrible hardships he had suffered.
From The Red True Story Book by H. J. (Henry Justice) Ford
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.
