mileage

Etymology

It is formed from English mile + -age.^[2][3][4][5] Dictionary.com labels it an Americanism of the mid-18th century,^[6] and the spelling milage was formerly also used.^[3][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An allowance for travelling expenses at a fixed rate per mile: 1724, in an American ordinance fixing fees,^[2][7] 1754 in Etymonline, which notes that it first referred to American political representatives.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From 1837 the word was used for a rate per mile charged for running railway vehicles over another company's line, a sense now historical.^[2][3][4] From 1847 it meant a distance in miles, or the total number of miles travelled,^[2] which Etymonline dates to 1861.^[3] With the motor car it came to mean the distance a vehicle can travel on a given amount of fuel, from 1926 in the OED^[2] and by 1912 in Etymonline.^[3] A figurative sense, use or benefit to be drawn from something, is recorded from 1860 and is now common in to get mileage out of something.^[2][3][4] In American slang, from the 1960s, a person with a lot of mileage has much experience of life.^[8]

Timeline

• 1724 – a travelling allowance at a fixed rate per mile, originally American.^[2][7]
• 1837 – a rate per mile for the use of railway vehicles.^[2][3]
• 1845 – a tax on stagecoaches by the number of miles run (rare, obsolete).^[2]
• 1847 – a distance in miles; the total number of miles travelled.^[2]
• 1860 – figurative, use, benefit or advantage.^[2][3]
• 1926 – the distance a motor vehicle travels on a given amount of fuel.^[2]
• 1962 – slang, experience of life.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A distance measured in miles, especially the total number of miles a vehicle has travelled: The van had low mileage for its age.^[9][7][2]
2. The number of miles a vehicle can travel on a given amount of fuel: good fuel mileage.^[9][7][2]
3. An allowance for travelling expenses at a fixed rate per mile.^[9][7][2]
4. (informal) Use, benefit or advantage to be drawn from something: The opposition got plenty of mileage out of the scandal.^[9][2][4]
5. The amount of service something such as a tyre gives, measured in miles of travel.^[7]

Related words

• mile
• milestone

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins