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definitions

mound

1
[mound]
See more synonyms for mound on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a natural elevation of earth; a hillock or knoll.
  2. an artificial elevation of earth, as for a defense work or a dam or barrier; an embankment.
  3. a heap or raised mass: a mound of papers; a mound of hay.
  4. Baseball. the slightly raised ground from which the pitcher delivers the ball.See also rubber1(def 14).
  5. an elevation formed of earth, sand, stones, etc., especially over a grave or ruins.
  6. a tumulus or other raised work of earth dating from a prehistoric or long-past period.
verb (used with object)
  1. to form into a mound; heap up.
  2. to furnish with a mound of earth, as for a defense.

Origin of mound

1
1505–15; earlier: hedge or fence used as a boundary or protection, (v.) to enclose with a fence; compare Old English mund hand, hence protection, protector; cognate with Old Norse mund, Middle Dutch mond protection
Related formsun·mound·ed, adjective

mound

2
[mound]
noun
  1. a globe topped with a cross that symbolizes power and constitutes part of the regalia of an English sovereign.

Origin of mound

2
1250–1300; Middle English: world < Old French monde < Latin mundus world
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for mound

mountain, rise, hillock, shock, drift, dune, pile, bank, embankment, knoll, mass, stack, molehill, anthill, tumulus

Examples from the Web for mound

Contemporary Examples of mound

Historical Examples of mound

  • But when this mound was built there were towns here, busy and crowded.

    The Trail Book

    Mary Austin

  • It did not need Mali-ya-bwana's whispered "faru" (rhinoceros) to identify the mound.

    The Leopard Woman

    Stewart Edward White

  • The first mound that I encountered belonged to a goblin who was splashing in his tub.

    American Notes

    Rudyard Kipling

  • To cover the dead with a mound of earth was a custom common to all nations.

    English Villages

    P. H. Ditchfield

  • Over every height, every mound, one might be lying—a trap for my destruction.

    Wilfrid Cumbermede

    George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for mound

mound

1
noun
  1. a raised mass of earth, debris, etc
  2. any heap or pilea mound of washing
  3. a small natural hill
  4. archaeol another word for barrow 2
  5. an artificial ridge of earth, stone, etc, as used for defence
verb
  1. (often foll by up) to gather into a mound; heap
  2. (tr) to cover or surround with a moundto mound a grave
Related formsRelated adjective: tumular

Word Origin for mound

C16: earthwork, perhaps from Old English mund hand, hence defence: compare Middle Dutch mond protection

mound

2
noun
  1. heraldry a rare word for orb (def. 1)

Word Origin for mound

C13 (meaning: world, C16: orb): from French monde, from Latin mundus world
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for mound
n.

1550s, "hedge, fence," also "embankment, dam" (a sense probably influenced by mount (n.)). The relationship between the noun and the verb is uncertain. Commonly supposed to be from Old English mund "hand, protection, guardianship" (cognate with Latin manus), but this is not certain (OED discounts it on grounds of sense). Perhaps a confusion of the native word and Middle Dutch mond "protection," used in military sense for fortifications of various types, including earthworks. From 1726 as "artificial elevation" (as over a grave); 1810 as "natural low elevation." As the place where the pitcher stands on a baseball field, from 1912.

v.

1510s, "to enclose with a fence;" c.1600 as "to enclose with an embankment;" see mound (n.). From 1859 as "to heap up." Related: Mounded; mounding.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper