mia-mia

American  

[mahy-uh-mahy-uh] / ˈmaɪ əˌmaɪ ə /

noun

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

---

mia mia British  

/ ˈmiːə ˈmiːə /

noun

1. a native Australian's hut

---

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

Wills had at last suddenly collapsed, and could only lie in the mia-mia, and philosophically contemplate the situation.

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)

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)

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

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