millier

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mi.lje/^[1]

Forms

millier m (plural milliers)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French mille + -ier, or perhaps continues a Latin mīliārius, found in inscriptions as a noun meaning “a thousand” instead of the classical Latin mīliārium, neuter of the adjective mīliārius (“containing a thousand”).^[2][3][4][5] Littré derives it from the Latin noun, and notes that Old French also had milie, from the plural mīlia, with the same sense.^[6]

Cognate with Italian migliaio, Old Occitan milhar, Spanish millar and Portuguese milheiro.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) quinze milliers means fifteen thousand men: De dulce France i ad quinze milliers.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The Old French phrase à milliers (Chanson de Roland) gave way to par milliers, in great numbers (1530, Palsgrave), and the plural des milliers for a large indefinite number is found in Agrippa d'Aubigné (late 16th century).^[3] The word also named a thousand of a measure or weight, and in Anglo-Norman a body of a thousand soldiers.^[8] La Noue writes of deux cens milliers de poudre in the 16th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – In the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1121–25 – In Anglo-Norman.^[8]
• 1530 – Palsgrave: par milliers.^[3]
• Late 16th century – Des milliers in d'Aubigné.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thousand, or about a thousand: un millier de personnes.^[9][1]
2. Des milliers: a great indefinite number: des milliers d'années.^[9][3]
3. Par milliers: in great numbers.^[9][3]

Related words

• mille
• milliard
• million
• Latin mīliārium

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 90a
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert