mia-mia

American  

[mahy-uh-mahy-uh] / ˈmaɪ əˌmaɪ ə /

noun

1. a temporary, hutlike shelter built by Aboriginal tribes in Australia.

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mia mia British  

/ ˈmiːə ˈmiːə /

noun

1. a native Australian's hut

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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

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)

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)

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 Wills, William John

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 Ford, H. J. (Henry Justice)

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