Etymologically
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miles

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmiː.ɫɛs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmiː.les][1]

Forms

mīles m or f (genitive mīlitis); third declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][1][3] The ending recalls pedes “foot soldier” and eques “horseman”, from a root “to go”, and de Vaan finds a link with mīlle “thousand”, “one who goes in the thousand”, tempting but difficult.[2][1] Wiktionary mentions a possible Etruscan origin, and Georges and the Thesaurus compared Ancient Greek ὅμιλος (hómilos, “crowd”).[1][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it, as in Mīles glōriōsus, the boastful soldier.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a soldier, often in the singular for the army as a whole, and a soldier of the rank and file as opposed to officers.[3][7] Ovid uses it of a piece in a board game.[3]

In medieval Latin it was a professional warrior, and British writers distinguished temporal from spiritual soldiers.[8][9] It was borrowed as Italian milite.[1] English military comes from mīlitāris.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[3][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a piece in a board game.[3][6]
  • mid-15th century – English military is recorded, from mīlitāris.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A soldier; collectively, the army.[3][7]
  2. A soldier of the ranks.[3]
  3. A piece in a board game.[3][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A professional warrior.[8]

Word family

  • commīles
  • mīlitāris
  • mīlitārius
  • mīlitia
  • mīlitō
  • mīlitāriter

Usage notes

Isidore says the soldier was so named because there were once a thousand (mīlle) in one unit.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).