mid·den (m d n)n. 1. A dunghill or refuse heap. 2. Archaeology A mound or deposit containing shells, animal bones, and other refuse that indicates the site of a human settlement. Also called kitchen midden. [Middle English midding, of Scandinavian origin.] |
midden [ˈmɪdən]
n
1.
a. Archaic or dialect a dunghill or pile of refuse
b. Dialect a dustbin
c. Northern English dialect an earth closet
2. (Social Science / Archaeology) See kitchen midden
[from Scandinavian; compare Danish mödding from mög muck + dynge pile]
Midden an accumulation of refuse, especially from a prehistoric kitchen fire; a dunghill, manure heap, 1375.
Example: midden of ashes, 1667.
midden - Traces back to Scandinavian forms mog, "muck," and dynge, "heap," and first meant "dunghill" before it denoted a prehistoric or historic refuse heap.
See also related terms for heap.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  midden - (archeology) a mound of domestic refuse containing shells and animal bones marking the site of a prehistoric settlementarchaeology, archeology - the branch of anthropology that studies prehistoric people and their cultures dumpsite, garbage dump, rubbish dump, trash dump, waste-yard, wasteyard, dump - a piece of land where waste materials are dumped |
| 2. | midden - a heap of dung or refuse cumulation, heap, pile, agglomerate, cumulus, mound - a collection of objects laid on top of each other |
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