Etymologically
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milium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmɪ.li.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmiː.li.um][1]

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
  • 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