mille Italian · revision 37956

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1219, Breve di Montieri|origins=ine-pro *smih₂ǵʰéslih₂}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmil.le/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mille''' (invariable; in compound numbers the plural is ''-mila'': ''duemila'', ''tremila'')^(Wiktionary)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ Old Italian also had the plural [[roa-oit|milia]], which Tommaseo calls older than ''mila''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|mīlle|t=thousand]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is found throughout Romance: [[fr|mille]], [[oc|mil]], [[ca|mil]], [[es|mil]], [[pt|mil]] and [[sc|milli]], while [[ro|mie]] continues the Latin plural [[m|la|mīlia]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) The same plural gave the Italian compound form [[mila]] and [[roa-oit|miglia]], from which [[miglio]] “mile” comes.^(Körting 1907)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The origin of the Latin word is disputed: DELI quotes Ernout and Meillet's verdict that the explanations proposed are more ingenious than convincing.^(DELI 1999) De Vaan gives the most widely accepted one: [[itc-pro|*smīɣeslī]], from [[ine-pro|*smih₂ǵʰéslih₂|t=one thousand]], literally “one heap”, which matches [[sa|सहस्र|tr=sahásra]] and [[grc|χίλιοι|tr=khílioi]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini notes instead that high numerals were not inherited from Indo-European, and suggests that the singular and the plural were variants of [[la|milium|t=millet]], so that the first meaning was “millet grains”.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the ''Breve di Montieri'', a Tuscan document of 1219, as the number of ten hundreds.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, already uses it loosely for “very many” and Cielo d'Alcamo tells a lady that her wealth is worth less than “mill'onze” (a thousand ounces).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|10, 406)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The number soon stood for an indefinite great quantity, as in Dante's “a mille a mille” (by the thousand); Dante also used it as a noun between 1304 and 1308.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) Phrases such as ''mille grazie'', ''mille auguri'' and ''te l'ho detto mille volte'' continue this use.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ''Il Mille'' became the name of the year 1000 and of the 11th century, and ''i Mille'' the thousand volunteers with whom Garibaldi landed in Sicily in 1860.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) Many compounds use ''mille'' for “very many”: ''millepiedi'' “millipede” (1542), ''millefoglio'' “yarrow” (1542) and the cake ''millefoglie'' (1939–1940).^(DELI 1999) The learned prefix ''milli-'' of scientific measures (''millimetro'', 1799, ''milligrammo'', 1910) comes from the same Latin word.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1219 – ''Mille'' is recorded in the ''Breve di Montieri''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses it for “very many”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''mille'' as a noun.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1374 – Petrarch uses ''millesimo'' “thousandth”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1542 – ''Millepiedi'' and ''millefoglio'' appear in Mattioli's Dioscorides.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1799 – ''Millimetro'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1860 – Garibaldi's volunteers become known as ''i Mille''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # [[m|en|thousand|alt=A thousand]], ten hundreds (1000, Roman M): ''un'auto da trentamila euro'', ''mille metri''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(hyperbolic)'' Very many, countless: ''Oggi ho mille impegni''; in greetings and thanks: ''mille grazie'', ''grazie mille''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # After a noun, with ordinal value: ''pagina mille'', ''l'anno mille''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The number one thousand and the sign for it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''il Mille'': the year 1000; also the 11th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''i Mille'': Garibaldi's thousand volunteers of the 1860 expedition to Sicily.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[millennio]]

+ * [[millenario]]

+ * [[millesimo]]

+ * [[millepiedi]]

+ * [[millefoglie]]

+ * [[millefoglio]]

+ * [[millefiori]]

+ * [[millimetro]]

+ * [[milligrammo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mila]]

+ * [[miglio]]

+ * [[migliaio]]

+ * [[la|mīlle]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Mille'' is invariable; its plural in compound numbers is ''mila'' (''duemila'', ''diecimila'').^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Wiktionary) Set phrases include ''a mille a mille'' (in great numbers), ''andare a mille'' (to go flat out) and ''da mille e una notte'' (fabulous, as in the ''Thousand and One Nights'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}