Etymologically
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mille

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmiːl.lɛ][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmil.le][1]

Forms

mīlle (genitive mīlle); semi-indeclinable numeral[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *smīχeslī, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sm-ih₂-ǵʰes-l-ih₂ (“one thousand”).[2] The usual explanation, which de Vaan follows, takes it as “one thousand”: an adjective *ǵʰes-lo- “heap” was made into a feminine noun, and the word for “one” took the feminine form *sm-ih₂ to agree with it.[2] The double ⟨ll⟩ may stand for a palatal /l/ rather than an old double consonant.[2] The OLD calls the etymology doubtful.[3]

Cognate with Sanskrit सहस्र (sahásra, “thousand”), Avestan hazaŋra- (“thousand”) and Ancient Greek χίλιοι (khílioi, “thousand”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Livius Andronicus (c. 280/260 – before 200 BC),[4] and de Vaan from Plautus,[2] who speaks of living a thousand years.[3]

Semantic evolution

In the singular it was usually an indeclinable adjective or noun, while the plural mīlia was a noun taking a genitive, as in Ennius' “eight thousand soldiers”.[3][5] Mille passuum or mille passus, “a thousand paces”, was the Roman mile of about 1,500 metres, and Latin milia “miles” gave Old English mil and English mile.[3][6] Used alone it could mean a thousand men or soldiers, and Köbler also lists the sense “countless”.[3][4]

Medieval Latin kept the classical uses.[7] Italian milione, literally “a great thousand”, was formed from it and passed into English as million in the late 14th century, and New Latin millennium was coined from it with annus “year”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 280/260 – before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.[4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of a thousand years and a thousand coins.[3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses mille passuum for a mile.[3][4]
  • late 14th century – English million comes from it through Italian and Old French.[6]
  • 1630s – English millennium is formed from New Latin.[6]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. A thousand.[3][1]
  2. (plural, with a numeral) So many thousand; thousands.[3]
  3. mille passuum, mille passus: a Roman mile of a thousand paces.[3][1]
  4. (elliptical) A thousand men or soldiers.[3]
  5. (hyperbole) Countless, a great many.[4]

Word family

  • miliārius
  • mīliēns
  • mīlifolium
  • mīlipeda
  • mīllefōrmis
  • millēnī
  • mīllēsimus
  • millimodus
  • sēsquimīlle

Usage notes

Varro and the grammarians discussed whether the singular could be declined.[8] Isidore derived it from multitudo, “a great number”, an ancient guess.[8]

References

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