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milpa

[ mil-puh ]

/ ˈmɪl pə /

noun

(in certain tropical regions) a tract of land cleared from the jungle, usually by burning, farmed for a few seasons, and then abandoned.

Words nearby milpa

milord, milosevic, milosevic, slobodan, milosz, milošević, milpa, milphosis, milpitas, milquetoast, milreis, milroy's disease

Origin of milpa

1835–45, Americanism; < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl mīlpan, equivalent to mīl(li) cultivated field + -pan locative suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for milpa

The agente rode with us in the morning quite a league upon our road, to a place which he was clearing for a milpa.
In Indian Mexico (1908)|Frederick Starr
Milpa: A word used in Central America for a small farm or clearing.
Inca Land|Hiram Bingham
In addition to one specimen taken along the road, another was taken from a fence post in a milpa on the same night.
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
The first work undertaken by the twins was the clearing of a milpa or cornfield.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 5|Hubert Howe Bancroft

It was discovered by an Indian, who had cut a piece of virgin bush with the object of making a milpa.
The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras|Thomas William Francis Gann

The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...