mound builder
1
9.9
- noun
- Australian
:
constructor de montículos
- In the dense forests of New Guinea, the mound builders construct large mounds for nesting purposes.
Examples
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Despite disagreement over the identity of the mound builders, most investigators agreed that the ancient inhabitants of America had originated elsewhere—probably Asia.
Academic text (1996) -
The mound builders of Australia create large nests made of leaves and dirt to incubate their eggs.
-
Known as megapodes, the mound builders rely on decaying vegetation to keep their eggs warm.
Synonyms
A ground bird from Australia and nearby islands that uses mounds of rotting plants to warm eggs
A large ground bird that builds a warm mound of rotting plants to hatch its eggs
A large bird with big feet that builds mounds of dead plants to keep its eggs warm
A bird with large feet that builds piles of dead plants to keep its eggs warm
Surface Forms
Morphology
mound + builder
The compound is directly compositional: 'mound' (a raised pile of earth) + 'builder' (one who builds) yields 'one that builds mounds', so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the basic meaning. This noun-formation pattern is common and cross-linguistically regular, so the specific referent (a bird species) may require extra knowledge but the core meaning is transparent.
Etymology
Mound builder names a bird that makes a large pile of rotting leaves and soil, a mound, so it is literally a builder of that pile. The bird uses the heat from the rotting pile 'to keep its eggs warm', so the name explains why this bird hatches its eggs in a pile instead of sitting on them.