miglio Italian · revision 39295

+ {{homograph|1|mile}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited, back-formation|attested=13th century, Ricordano Malispini|origins=la mille}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmiʎ.ʎo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''miglio''' ''m'' (plural miglia f)^(Wiktionary)

+ The plural is feminine, ''le miglia''; the literary plural ''milia'' is now obsolete.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The mile is a singular formed from the plural [[miglia]], which continues [[inh|la|mille|alt=mīlia|t=thousands]], the plural of the numeral for “thousand”, in the phrase [[m|la|mīlia passuum|t=a thousand paces]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The new singular follows the usual Italian pattern of masculine nouns with a feminine plural.^(Devoto 1968) It is a doublet of [[mille]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The same Latin plural gave [[oc|milha]], [[ca|milla]] (from which [[es|milla]] was borrowed), [[pt|milha]] and Logudorese [[m|sc|miza]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) Taken into Germanic from the Latin of the Empire, it became [[goh|mīla]], [[de|Meile]] and [[en|mile]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2457)

+

+ The Latin numeral is usually traced to [[ine-pro|*sm-ih₂-ǵʰes-l-ih₂|t=one thousand]], with a first part meaning “one”; the comparison rests on [[sa|सहस्र|tr=sahásra]] and [[grc|χίλιοι|tr=khílioi]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the chronicle of Ricordano Malispini, in the 13th century, which explains that the mile is a thousand short paces of three ''braccia'' each.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before the metric system the length of the mile varied from place to place: Tommaseo–Bellini gives just under 1,500 metres for the Tuscan mile, 1,653 for the Roman, 1,927 for the Neapolitan and 2,466 for the Piedmontese one, and notes that the kilometre was already replacing it.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Modern Italian keeps the word for the English statute mile and the nautical mile.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ In the plural the word became a figure of speech for a great distance, real or abstract, as in ''lontano un miglio'' and ''mille miglia lontano''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) It also named a milestone, and a point on a road marked by one.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The ''Mille Miglia'' was a road race over about 1,600 km held from 1927 to 1957.^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Ricordano Malispini defines the mile as a thousand paces.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1266 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1927–1957 – The ''Mille Miglia'' road race is held.^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|mile]], an old unit of distance whose length varied with time and place; the Roman mile was a thousand paces, about 1,480 metres.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A modern unit of the same name: ''miglio terrestre'' or ''inglese'' (1,609 metres), and ''miglio marino'' or ''nautico'' (1,852 metres).^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(hyperbolic, chiefly plural)'' A great distance, also in a figurative sense: ''si sente lontano un miglio'', it is obvious from far away.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' A [[m|en|milestone]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ {{homograph|2|millet}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1261–1272|origins=la milium}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmiʎ.ʎo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''miglio''' ''m'' (plural migli)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Millet is [[inh|la|milium]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is pan-Romance: [[fro|mil]] (later replaced by its diminutive [[fr|millet]]), [[oc|melh]], [[ca|mill]], [[es|mijo]], [[pt|milho]], Sardinian [[m|sc|mizu]], [[ro|mei]] and [[dlm|mail]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2457) The DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance form with short /ɪ/ for most of the Romance languages and one with /i/ for Catalan, Spanish and Portuguese;^(DÉRom) Meyer-Lübke explained that /i/ by the influence of [[la|mīlle|t=thousand]], because of the great number of grains.^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin word is compared with [[grc|μελίνη|tr=melínē|t=millet]] and [[lt|málnos|t=a kind of millet]], each with a different root vowel.^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan suggests either three separate derivatives of [[ine-pro|*melh₂-|t=to grind]], “the grain to be ground”, or three forms of one old noun [[m|ine-pro|*mélh₂-i]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Veronese ''meio'' is documented from about 1205, before any Tuscan record.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini dates the Italian word to 1261–1272;^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) DELI finds it in the ''Fiore'' (late 13th or early 14th century) and in Fazio degli Uberti, before 1367.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The grain was once food for people as well as animals;^(Prati 1951|662)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Tommaseo–Bellini says country people made a heavy but nourishing bread from it.^(Prati 1951|662)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Followed by an adjective (''miglio indiano'', ''miglio africano'') the name was given to other grasses with similar seeds.^(DEI|2457)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Today it is above all birdseed.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ The derivative ''migliaccio'' comes from Late Latin ''miliacium'', originally a cake of millet flour; it then named the chestnut cake (1614–1617, Tassoni) and the black pudding baked in a pan (1310–1312, Dino Compagni), which looks similar.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1205 – Veronese ''meio'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1261–1272 – Nocentini's date for the Italian word.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses ''migliaccio'' for a black pudding.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1367 – Fazio degli Uberti uses ''miglio'' “millet”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(botany)'' [[m|en|millet]] (''Panicum miliaceum''), an annual grass with hairy leaves and drooping panicles.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Its small round grains, used mainly as [[m|en|birdseed]] and in animal feed.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A name given to various other grasses, as in ''miglio africano'' (pearl millet).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[migliaccio]]

+ * [[migliarino]]

+ * [[migliarola]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mille]]

+ * [[miglia]]

+ * [[la|milium]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The two words differ in the plural: ''le miglia'' (miles) but ''i migli'' (kinds of millet), the latter rarely used.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) GRADIT and Devoto–Oli also record ''miglio'' as an old or popular name for [[milio]], a small white spot on the skin.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}