Mound

Mound, now used in the sense of a pile or heap of earth, artificial or natural, especially such a pile raised over a grave or burial-place, a tumulus, or as a means of defence, and so used to translate Lat. agger. The earliest use in English is for a hedge or other boundary between adjoining lands; this only survives dialectically. The word is obscure in origin, but was early influenced by "mount," i.e. hill; Lat. mons, montis. A connexion with O. Eng. mund, guardianship, hand, has been suggested. The "orb," i.e. a globe of gold surmounted by a cross, as forming part of the regalia, is often known as a "mound"; this is a translation of Fr. monde; Lat. mundus, world.