mound

Etymology

From earlier meaning "hedge, fence", from Middle English mound, mund (“protection, boundary, raised earthen rampart”), from Old English mund (“hand, hand of protection, protector, guardianship”), from Proto-Germanic *mundō (“hand”), *munduz (“protection, patron”), from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂-nt-éh₂ (“the beckoning one”), from *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”). Cognate with Old Frisian mund (“guardianship”), Old High German munt (“hand, protection”) (German Mündel (“ward”), Vormund (“a guardian”)), Old Norse mund (“hand”) (Icelandic mund), Middle Dutch mond (“protection”), Latin manus (“hand”), Ancient Greek μάρη (márē, “hand”).

noun

1. An artificial hill or elevation of earth; a raised bank; an embankment thrown up for defense
2. A natural elevation appearing as if thrown up artificially; a regular and isolated hill, hillock, or knoll.
3. (baseball) Elevated area of dirt upon which the pitcher stands to pitch.
   The pitcher was waiting at the mound.
4. A ball or globe forming part of the regalia of an emperor or other sovereign. It is encircled with bands, enriched with precious stones, and surmounted with a cross.
5. (US, vulgar, slang) The mons veneris.
6. (obsolete, anatomy, measurement, figurative) A hand.
7. (obsolete) A protection; restraint; curb.
8. (obsolete) A helmet.
9. (obsolete) Might; size.

verb

1. (transitive) To fortify with a mound; add a barrier, rampart, etc. to.
2. (transitive) To force or pile into a mound or mounds.
   He mounded up his mashed potatoes so they left more space on the plate for the meat.
3. (intransitive) To form a mound.
   When a wave mounds on the outside and takes its shape, a surfer quickly paddles to the peak, positions himself in its evolving momentum, swings his board around, aligns with the peak, and thrusts himself into its cascading shape. 2011, Rick Hansen, Leadership and The Art of Surfing, page xi