matilda
n. countablen. a heavy bag or bundle of belongings that a person carries while traveling on foot. This word is mostly used in old Australian stories about people walking through the countryside.
n. a bundle of personal possessions or a bedroll carried by an itinerant worker or traveler. Historically associated with Australian bushmen and the song 'Waltzing Matilda'.
The traveler carried his matilda across the dusty plains.
In the famous folk song, the swagman carries his matilda while searching for work in the Australian outback.
The term survives primarily in historical literature and folk music, evoking an era of itinerant laborers who carried their entire lives in a matilda slung over their shoulders.
From Middle English Matilda, from Old French Mathilde, from Old High German Mahthilt, Mehthilt, from Proto-West Germanic Mahtihild, from Proto-Germanic Mahtihildiz; compare German Mechthild, Old English Mæþhild (“Matilda”).
Archaic and largely restricted to Australian English; most commonly encountered in the phrase 'waltzing Matilda', meaning to travel with one's belongings.