mound builder

¹

noun

1. megapode.

Mound Builder

²

noun

1. a member of one of the various American Indian tribes who, in prehistoric and early historic times, erected the burial mounds and other earthworks of the Mississippi drainage basin and southeastern U.S.

mound-builder

¹

noun

1. another name for megapode

Mound Builder

²

noun

1. a member of a group of prehistoric inhabitants of the Mississippi region who built altar-mounds, tumuli, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of mound builder¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Origin of mound builder²

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

The specimen shown in fig. 302 is quoted as a “typical example of the cross of the mound-builder.”

From Project Gutenberg

Every skeleton of a Mound-Builder is found in a condition of extreme decay.

From Project Gutenberg

Furthermore the mound builder used metal tools, and was probably a metal worker.

From Project Gutenberg

They resemble the brown mound-builder ant; the slaves are black.

From Project Gutenberg

The professor closes his description with the remark: "The skeleton undoubtedly belonged to a veritable mound-builder."

From Project Gutenberg