milium

Forms

milium n (genitive miliī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Italic *meljo-,^[2][1] from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind”), “the grain to be ground”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan takes it from ⟨*meliom⟩ with the vowel change seen in nihil and similis; the Latin, Greek and Lithuanian words may be separate derivatives of that root or continue one ancient noun *mélh₂-i.^[2] Cognate with Ancient Greek μελίνη (melínē, “millet”) and Lithuanian málnos (“a kind of millet”).^[2][4] Varro thought it came from the Greek word, and Festus reports that some connected it with mīlle (“thousand”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is millet.^[4][6] Varro, Virgil and Pliny the Elder mention it as a crop.^[6] Church Latin keeps the sense.^[7] Through Old French mil and its diminutive millet it gave English millet (early 15th century).^[8]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato.^[2][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro, on farming.^[6][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, in the Georgics.^[6][3]
• early 15th century – English millet, through Old French.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Millet.^[4][6][1]

Word family

• miliārius
• miliacus
• miliāria
• miliginus

Related words

• English millet

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com