millennium

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mɪˈlɛnɪəm/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin millennium,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin mīlle (“thousand”) + annus (“year”),^[2][3][4][5] formed on the model of Latin biennium (“two-year period”) and triennium.^[3][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The thousand-year period during which, according to one reading of Revelation 20:1–5, Christ will reign in person on earth (before 1638).^{[7][3][4][5][6]}

Semantic evolution

The theological sense came first; the general meaning, a period of a thousand years, is recorded by 1711, and the word was also used of a thousandth anniversary.^[7][3][4] From 1820 it was used figuratively of a hoped-for period of happiness and good government.^[7][2][5] The meaning “the year 2000” is attested by 1970.^[4][1] The adjective millennial first referred to the prophesied millennium (1664) and generally to a thousand years from 1807.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1638 – Christ's thousand-year reign.^[7][3]
• 1664 – millennial.^[3]
• before 1711 – a period of a thousand years.^[7][3][4]
• 1820 – figuratively, a golden age.^[7]
• 1970 – the year 2000.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A span of one thousand years, especially one counted from the beginning of the Christian era.
2. The thousand-year period described in Revelation 20, during which Christ is to reign on earth.
3. A hoped-for period of joy, peace, prosperity and justice.
4. A thousandth anniversary.
5. The point at which one thousand-year period ends and another begins, especially the year 2000.

Word family

• millennial
• millennialism
• millennialist
• millennially

Related words

• millenarian
• millenary
• biennial
• annual
• million
• mile

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press