Etymologically
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miller

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈmɪl.ə/, US /ˈmɪl.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English millere, mylnere, mulnere,[2] an agent noun from mill with the suffix -er.[3][4][5] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford think it was probably taken from Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Dutch molner, mulner and made to agree with mill;[2][6] those words, like Old High German mulināri (German Müller), come from Late Latin molīnārius, from molīna “mill”.[2][6] The Old English word was mylnweard “mill-keeper”, kept in the surname Millward.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who grinds corn in a mill: 1362 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline;[7][3] as a surname by the early 14th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

Millers were proverbially dishonest in taking their toll of the grain, as in Chaucer (about 1386).[7] The proverb too much water drowned the miller is from 1805.[7] Since 1668 the name has been given to moths and caterpillars with powdery or hairy wings and bodies,[7][8] while from 1839 it was used of anyone who works a mill or milling machine.[7]

Timeline

  • 1362 – one who grinds corn.[7]
  • c. 1386 – the dishonest miller of proverb.[7]
  • 1668 – a powdery moth.[7]
  • 1839 – one who works any mill.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who owns or works in a mill, especially one that grinds grain into flour.
  2. A milling machine.
  3. Any of various moths with a powdery look.

Word family

  • undermiller
  • dusty miller
  • molly miller

Usage notes

Miller is a common surname, the source of the Miller indices in crystallography, named after the English scientist W. H. Miller (1890 in the OED).[7][6]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin